II 


II 


111 I  1 


192' 


BT  885  .E55  c.2 

Erdman,  Charles  Rosenbury 

1866-1960. 
The  return  of  Christ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/returnofchristOOerdm 


THE  RETURN  OF   CHRIST 


CHARLES  R.  ERDMAN 


THE 

RETURN  OF  CHRIST 


BY 

CHARLES  R.  ERDMAN 

PROFESSOR    OF    PRACTICAL    THEOLOGY    PRINCETON 
THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,  PRINCETON,  NEW  JERSEY 

Author  of  "The  Gospel  of  John,  an  Eposition,"  "The  Gospel 

of  Mark,"  "The  General  Epistles,"  "The  Acts,"  "The 

Gospel  of  Mat  hew,"  "The    Gospel   of  Luke," 

"Coming    to    the    Communion,"    etc. 


With  an  Introduction  by 
The  Rev.  J.  STUART  HOLDEN,  d.d. 

RECTOR  OF  ST.   PAUL'S   CHURCH, 
PORTMAN    SQUARE,    LONDON 


NEW  ^Wr  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,    1922, 
BY  GEORGE    H.   DORAN    COMPANY 


PRINTED   IN   THE    UNITED   STATES  OF  AMERICA 


TO 
MY   FATHER 

WILLIAM  JACOB  ERDMAN 

A  PRINCE  AND  A   MENTOR 
AMONG  STUDENTS  OF  PROPHECY 

WHO 

IN    HIS    EIGHTY-NINTH    YEAR 

STILL  DISCOVERS    IN     SACRED   SCRIPTURE 

NEW   TREASURES   OF   TRUTH 


FOREWORD 

The  purpose  of  these  brief  pages  is  to  deepen 
conviction  and  to  promote  harmony  of  belief 
concerning  the  return  of  Christ.  While  not 
advocating  the  details  held  by  any  one  of  the 
groups  into  which  students  of  prophecy  are 
divided,  the  writer  emphasizes  the  substantial 
elements  of  truth  upon  which  nearly  all  agree, 
and  intimates  further  that  the  points  of  diver- 
gence are  largely  those  about  which  the  Bible 
is  silent  or  obscure.  Many  readers  will  recog- 
nize and  welcome  the  views  expressed,  and 
even  those  by  whom  they  are  not  fully  approved 
will  find  in  their  perusal  at  least  an  opportunity 
of  exercising  the  patience  and  charity  which 
must  be  preserved  "till  we  all  attain  unto  the 
unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God." 

Princeton,  New  Jersey. 


INTRODUCTION 

By  the  Rev.  J.  Stuart  Holden,  D.D. 

My  friend,  the  author  of  this  small  volume, 
has  given  me  the  privilege  of  association  with 
him  in  an  attempt  to  set  forth  the  general  out- 
line of  the  New  Testament  teaching  on  the  re- 
turn of  Christ,  in  terms  free  from  the  rival 
contentions  which,  unhappily,  have  gathered 
round  the  interpretation  of  the  Great  Hope  as 
declared  by  Christ  and  his  apostles. 

The  standpoint  he  adopts  and  the  consequent 
views  he  maintains  are  identical  with  my  own; 
and  I  earnestly  join  him  in  the  hope  that  this 
plain  statement  of  the  case  may  serve  in  some 
measure  to  reconcile  the  needlessly  hostile 
schools  of  prophetic  interpretation,  whose  very 
zeal  in  advocacy  has  done  so  much  to  discredit 
the  entire  subject  in  the  minds  of  thoughtful 
Christian  people.  These  schools  have,  of 
course,  a  common  denominator  of  truth,  and 
the  aim  of  this  book  is  to  recall  them  to  its 

ix 


x  Introduction 

recognition  and  to  their  own  essential  union, 
in  order  that  all  who  love  the  appearing  of 
Christ  may  unite  in  proclaiming  to  a  world  dis- 
traught and  leaderless  the  full  gospel  of  its  only 
Saviour. 

The  great  fact  of  Christ's  Second  Coming 
is  no  matter  of  uncertainty.  It  is  writ  large  in 
the  Scriptures  of  Truth  as  the  essential  com- 
pletion of  the  work  accomplished  at  his  First 
Coming  and  by  his  present  Session  at  the 
throne  of  God.  The  evidence  for  the  fact  that 
he  will  come  and  for  the  manner  of  his  coming 
is  as  complete  as  is  that  for  the  fact  that  once 
he  did  appear  among  men.  Around  the  three 
great  words,  whose  depth  none  can  fathom, 
Atonement,  Advocacy,  Advent,  all  history  and 
prophecy  concerning  the  Son  of  Man  circle. 
Nothing,  for  instance,  was  clearer  to  his  own 
consciousness  as  unveiled  in  the  Gospels  than 
the  certainty  that  his  departure  was  but  for  a 
season;  "I  will  come  again  and  receive  you 
unto  myself,"  is  the  text  of  his  last  discourse 
to  the  sorrowing  men  he  must  leave;  and,  en- 
shrined in  his  institution  of  the  Sacrament  of 


Introduction  xi 

Redemption  is  an  undying  witness  to  this  cer- 
tainty, "Ye  do  shew  the  Lord's  death  till  he 
come."  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  this 
hope  captured  the  hearts  of  those  who  com- 
panied  with  him  and  that  the  earliest  Christian 
writings  throb  and  glow  with  its  intensity. 

Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  the  early 
Church,  this  is  undoubtedly  true,  that  its  back 
was  toward  the  world  and  its  face  toward  the 
coming  of  the  Lord.  Its  course  was  steered 
not  alone  by  the  chart  of  its  creed  but  by  the 
pole-star  of  its  hope.  The  fore-gleam  of  the 
day  illumined  its  dark  hours,  and  saved  it  from 
present  fears.  Its  moral  and  ethical  life  found 
surest  impulse  in  the  certainty  that  Christ 
would  come,  just  as  it  had  found  firm  founda- 
tion in  the  certainty  that  he  had  come ;  and  the 
inspiration  of  its  splendid  sacrifices,  conflicts 
and  triumphs  was  in  this  same  sure  conscious- 
ness. "Now"  was  always  "the  day  of  salva- 
tion" and  hence  of  earnest  efTort  to  win  men  to 
Christ,  since  tomorrow  might  be  the  day  of 
glory. 

Are  we  wiser  in  our  own  day?    For  it  is  un- 


xii  Introduction 

questionably  true  that  we  have  to  a  large  extent 
allowed  the  truth  of  the  Lord's  coming  to  drop 
out  of  our  thinking.  Many  of  the  theological 
mazes  into  which  recent  years  have  brought  us 
are  largely  due  to  the  blind  following  of  teach- 
ers who  airily  explain  away  the  cardinal  state- 
ments of  the  New  Testament  on  hypotheses, 
the  acceptance  of  which  demands  infinitely 
more  credulity  than  reason;  and  much  of  our 
lack  of  spiritual  passion,  attested  by  the  com- 
parative powerlessness  of  highly  organized  ef- 
fort, is  due  to  the  same  cause. 

That  the  whole  subject  has  been  to  some  ex- 
tent discounted  by  unwise  speculation  and  un- 
spiritual  curiosity  has  sorrowfully  to  be  ad- 
mitted. That,  as  presented  by  extremists,  it 
has  borne  little  relation  to  actual  duty,  either 
in  theory  or  practice,  it  is  likewise  impossible 
to  deny.  In  this  respect,  however,  this  great 
truth  has  only  suffered  as  other  elements  of 
the  Gospel  have  also  suffered. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  protest  that  we  have  no 
sympathy  with  anything  in  the  way  of  fixing 
probable  dates,  which  are  altogether  improb- 


Introduction  xiii 

able,  or,  indeed,  with  anything  which  traverses 
the  Lord's  own  statement  regarding  the  uncer- 
tainty of  the  time  of  his  return.  Yet  we  are 
rightly  jealous  to  preserve  the  force  of  his  un- 
qualified assertions  as  to  the  certainty  of  the 
fact.  We  are  not  disposed  to  argue  this  main 
position,  for  to  us  the  Word  of  God  is  the  end 
of  all  contention.  Nor  do  we  desire  to  treat  the 
event  as  a  subject  of  controversy.  The  way 
of  holiness,  so  intimately  bound  up  with  the 
hope  of  Christ's  appearing,  is  not  to  wrangle 
over  but  to  walk  in. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  deplore  the  position 
of  those  who  neglect  this  truth  and  place  their 
hope  for  the  world  in  mere  human  schemes  of 
social  reconstructions  and  political  programs 
and  international  compacts.  No  permanent 
peace,  no  brotherhood  of  man,  ever  can  be  es- 
tablished by  force  of  arms  or  skill  of  diplomacy. 
The  coming  of  Christ  himself  is  the  only  hope 
for  his  people. 

Should  we  not  then  lay  hold  afresh  of  this 
glorious  truth  in  these  days  of  trouble  and  un- 
certainty?   Well  has  it  been  said  that  "while 


xiv  Introduction 

the  sinner  who  realizes  his  doom  cannot  look 
up,  the  believer  who  realizes  his  destiny  cannot 
look  down."  It  is  by  the  uplifted  eye  and  the 
consequently  empowered  heart  and  hand  of 
them  that  live  "looking  for  that  blessed  hope 
and  the  glorious  appearing"  that  Christ  is 
glorified  and  that  glad  day  is  hastened. 

If  this  small  book  does  no  more  than  re-echo 
the  Master's  injunction  to  "watch,"  and  call 
his  people  from  the  pursuit  of  rival  speculations 
to  that  more  sure  Word  of  Prophecy  to  which 
they  do  well  to  take  heed  as  unto  a  light  that 
shines  in  a  dark  place  until  the  Day  dawns  and 
the  Day-star  arises  in  their  hearts,  it  will  not 
have  been  written  in  vain. 

St.  Paul's, 

Portman  Square,  London. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION ix 

CHAPTER 

I     THE  DOCTRINE 17 

II     THE  VISIBLE  COMING 27 

III     THE  PRECEDING  EVENTS 37 

IV     THE  EVENTS   TO   FOLLOW 49 

V     THE     MILLENNIUM 63 

VI     THE  PERFECTED  KINGDOM 83 

VII     THE  PRESENT    DUTY 97 


Chapter  I:  The  Doctrine 


"The  grace  of  God  hath  appeared,  bringing 
salvation  to  all  men,  instructing  us,  to  the  intent 
that,  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts, 
we  should  live  soberly  and  righteously  and 
godly  in  this  present  world;  looking  for  the 
blessed  hope  and  appearing  of  the  glory  of  the 
great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who 
gave  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us 
from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  himself  a 
people  for  his  own  possession,  zealous  of  good 
works."     (Titus  2:11-14,    Revised  Version.) 


Chapter  I:  The  Doctrine 

Jesus  Christ  will  reappear.  Of  this  fact 
there  should  be  no  doubt  among  those  who  be- 
lieve his  promises  and  accept  the  testimony  of 
the  men  who  knew  him  best.  When  last  seen 
by  the  world  he  was  dying  on  a  cross  between 
two  crucified  thieves.  His  disciples  declared 
that  after  his  burial  he  was  seen  of  them  alive, 
for  forty  days;  that  he  ate  and  drank  with 
them,  and  then  withdrew  into  the  sphere  of 
the  unseen ;  but  they  affirmed  that  he  would  re- 
turn in  visible  glory;  and  their  belief  has  been 
shared  by  the  Christian  Church  through  all  the 
passing  years. 

This  hope  has  been  heralded  in  her  hymns, 
from  the  solemn  strains  of  the  ''Dies  Irae"  to 
the  glad  notes  of  such  modern  songs  as : 


and 
and 


'Lot  he  comes  with  clouds  descending, 
Once  for  favoured  sinners  slain," 

'Thou  art  coming,  O  my  Saviour, 
Thou  art  coming,  O  my  King," 

"Come,  Lord,  and  tarry  not; 
Bring  the  long-lookcd-for  day." 
17 


18  The  Return  of  Christ 

This  belief  is  embedded  in  her  confessions  of 
faith,  as  in  the  Apostles  Creed :  "He  ascended 
into  heaven  and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of 
God  the  Father  Almighty;  from  thence  he 
shall  come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead," 
or,  as  in  the  words  of  the  Westminster  divines, 
"So  will  he  have  that  day  unknown  to  men, 
that  they  may  shake  off  all  carnal  security,  and 
be  always  watchful,  because  they  know  not  at 
what  hour  the  Lord  will  come;  and  may  be 
ever  prepared  to  say,  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come 
quickly.  Amen."  That  prayer  has  been  the 
climax  of  all  petitions,  as  it  has  been  inspired 
by  the  most  sacred  of  all  hopes. 

The  belief  in  the  visible  return  of  Christ  has 
been  so  precious  to  the  church,  and  so  much 
in  the  thought  of  believers,  because  it  holds  so 
prominent  a  place  in  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures.  It  is  at  times  surprising  to  note 
the  frequency  with  which  the  truth  is  men- 
tioned. One  careful  student  finds  three  hun- 
dred and  eighteen  such  references. 

For  instance,  in  addition  to  the  parables  and 
predictions  of  our  Lord,  we  recall  his  great 


The  Doctrine  19 

prophetic  discourses  recorded  in  the  twenty- 
fourth  and  the  twenty-fifth  chapters  of  Mat- 
thew, the  thirteenth  of  Mark  and  the  twenty- 
first  of  Luke.  We  remember  how  the  story  of 
the  Acts  opens  with  the  Ascension,  and  with 
the  promise  to  the  disciples :  "This  same  Jesus, 
which  is  taken  up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall 
so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen  him  go 
into  heaven." 

The  earliest  letters  penned  by  the  Apostle 
Paul,  the  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians,  have 
the  return  of  Christ  as  the  burden  of  their  mes- 
sage ;  all  his  subsequent  letters  add  to  this  testi- 
mony, while  in  his  last  epistle,  Second  Timothy, 
he  expresses  his  expectation  of  the  crown  to  be 
received  at  the  appearing  of  the  Lord,  and  he 
urges  his  young  friend  to  be  faithful  in  view  of 
the  coming  and  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

The  writer  to  the  Hebrews  urges  his  read- 
ers to  persevere  in  the  life  of  faith  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  "Yet  a  little  while,  and  he  that 
shall  come  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry." 
James  encourages  believers  to  be  patient  be- 
cause "the  coming  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand." 
Peter  writes  two  epistles  of  which  the  key-note 
is  this  blessed  hope;  in  them  he  continually 


20  The  Return  of  Christ 

appeals  to  the  glory  to  be  revealed  at  the  future 
appearing  of  Christ,  and  warns  against  false 
teachers  whose  essential  error  lies  in  their  de- 
nial of  this  visible  return. 

In  view  of  the  deepening  darkness  and  the 
distress  of  the  last  days,  Jude  quotes  the  cheer- 
ing words  of  prophecy:  "Behold  the  Lord 
cometh  with  ten  thousand  of  his  saints."  John 
encourages  us  with  the  assurance  that  when 
Christ  appears,  "we  shall  be  like  him  for  we 
shall  see  him  as  he  is,"  and  he  closes  the  New 
Testament  with  his  Apocalyptic  visions  of 
which  the  index  is  given  in  the  majestic  words, 
"Behold,  he  cometh  with  the  clouds,"  and 
"Behold,  I  come  quickly." 

This  doctrine  concerning  the  return  of 
Christ,  furthermore,  is  intensely  practical.  It 
has  occasioned  much  unprofitable  specula- 
tion, some  of  which  has  been  vain  and  fool- 
ish ;  but  surely  this  was  not  the  design  nor  the 
fault  of  the  sacred  writers.  The  truth  was 
emphasized  by  inspired  apostles  because  it  was 
regarded  as  bearing  so  definitely  and  so  help- 
fully upon  Christian  conduct  and  service.     It 


The  Doctrine  21 

was  mentioned  as  a  motive  to  repentance,  to 
sobriety,  to  sincerity,  to  watchfulness,  to  pa- 
tience, to  fidelity,  to  endurance,  to  hope,  to  love, 
and  to  the  manifestation  of  practically  every 
virtue  and  moral  excellence.  Particularly,  it 
was  given  as  a  source  of  consolation  in  hours 
of  bereavement;  for  the  statements  relative  to 
the  coming  of  our  Lord  reveal  the  future  far 
enough,  not  to  satisfy  curiosity,  but  to  comfort 
the  heart.  Accordingly  it  may  be  fair  to  con- 
clude that  the  ultimate  proof  of  a  true  under- 
standing of  the  doctrine  will  be  found  always, 
not  in  confident  assertions  of  superior  knowl- 
edge nor  in  dogmatic  statements  of  belief,  but 
in  beauty  of  character  and  in  a  growing  like- 
ness to  Christ. 

This  truth,  however,  is  frequently  perverted, 
discredited,  and  misunderstood.  The  return  of 
our  Lord  is  identified,  mistakenly,  with  the 
visions  of  Swedenborg,  with  the  "discovery" 
of  Christian  Science,  with  the  delusions  of 
Mormonism,  with  the  vagaries  of  "Millennial 
Dawn,"  and  with  the  fallacies  of  the  various 
forms  of  modern  "Adventism." 


22  The  Return  of  Christ 

Even  among  evangelical  Christians  some  of 
its  most  ardent  advocates  have  adopted  such 
fanciful  interpretations  of  Scripture  and  have 
been  so  dogmatic  in  their  assertions  of  error  as 
to  make  the  judicious  grieve.  Others,  because 
completely  neglecting  the  doctrine,  and  so  lack- 
ing the  restraint  of  its  truths,  have  been  swept 
away  by  secular  programs  and  immersed  in 
worldly  forms  of  service. 

Some  persons  emphasize  the  doctrine  out  of 
all  proportion  to  other  belief s,Tegarding  it  as 
the  foundation,  rather  than  the  cap-stone  of 
the  Christian  faith ;  others-deny  its  validity  and 
declare  it  to  be  a  creation  of  fancy  or  fanati- 
cism, and  trace  its  source  to  a  falsely  literal  in- 
terpretation of  the  Bible.  The  former  class 
are  stigmatized  as  unscientific  and  lacking  in 
scholarship,  the  latter  as  sceptical  and  devoid 
of  spiritual  insight. 

Professed  teachers  of  prophecy  have  divided 
themselves  into  two  or  more  opposing  camps, 
under  different  chosen  standards,  and  have 
given  the  impression  that  the  return  of  Christ 
is  necessarily  a  divisive  if  not  a  dangerous  doc- 
trine. 

In  reality  the  doctrine,  while  involving  di- 


The  Doctrine  23 

vine  mysteries,  accords  with  the  most  sober 
reason.  While  conveyed  largely  in  figurative 
language,  its  main  features  seem  definitely 
stated.  While  there  is  room  for  honest  differ- 
ences of  opinion  in  the  interpretation  of  even 
important  details,  the  central  elements  are  such 
as  should  bind  believers  into  a  closer  union. 

There  are  many  to-day  who  are  convinced 
that  in  reference  to  the  coming  of  Christ  there 
is  more  harmony  of  belief  than  is  often  sup- 
posed. They  feel  that  the  time  has  come  for  all 
who  accept  the  cardinal  truths  of  Christianity, 
to  unite  in  emphasizing  anew  the  great  facts 
which  they  hold  in  common  relative  to  the  re- 
turn of  the  Lord,  to  realize  that  the  points  on 
which  they  differ  are  in  large  measure  matters 
of  definition  and  are  comparatively  unimpor- 
tant, to  show  more  of  charity  and  of  sympathy 
toward  those  whose  views  they  cannot  accept, 
to  keep  open  minds  for  the  reception  of  new 
light,  and  to  proclaim  the  essential  reality  with 
such  kindly  confidence  as  to  bring  to  bear  upon 
the  whole  church  the  sanctifying  and  unifying 
influence  of  that  "blessed  hope  and  glorious 
appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ." 


24  The  Return  of  Christ 

This  is  but  one  among  the  accredited  doc- 
trines of  the  church,  but  it  is  one  which  must 
not  be  allowed  to  fall  into  disrepute  or  neg- 
lect. It  surely  crowns  every  true  summary  of 
Christian  belief. 

"Living  he  loved  me,  dying  he  saved  me, 
Buried  he  carried  my  sins  far  away, 
Risen  he  justified  freely  forever, 
One  day  he's  coming,  Oh,  glorious  day" 


Chapter  II:    The  Visible  Coming 


"This  same  Jesus  which  is  taken  up  from  you 
into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye 
have  seen  him  go  into  heaven."      (Acts  I  :n.) 

"Behold  he  comet h  with  clouds  and  every  eye 
shall  see  him"  (Rev.  1:7.) 


Chapter  II:  The  Visible 
Coming 

"Hereafter  shall  ye  see  the  Son  of  man  sit- 
ting on  the  right  hand  of  power,  and  coming  in 
the  clouds  of  heaven."  Such  was  the  promise 
of  Christ;  and  it  is  with  this  great  event  that 
we  are  here  concerned,  namely,  with  the  visible, 
bodily,  glorious  reappearing  of  our  Lord. 

This  event  is  not  to  be  confused  with  the 
spiritual  presence  of  Christ  in  the  life  of  every 
believer.  The  latter  is  also  a  blessed  reality. 
In  his  farewell  discourse,  delivered  on  the  night 
of  his  betrayal,  Jesus  strengthened  his  disciples 
by  his  sure  word  of  promise,  "I  will  not  leave 
you  comfortless ;  I  will  come  to  you."  This  be- 
lief in  the  spiritual  coming  of  Christ,  this  con- 
fidence in  his  unseen  presence,  has  been  the  stay 
and  encouragement  of  his  followers  through 
all  the  ages.  Nothing  should  make  us  lose  sight 
of  this  truth.  By  Christian  fellowship,  by  the 
study  of  the  Word,  by  secret  communion  with 

the  Master,  it  should  become  more  real  and 

27 


28  The  Return  of  Christ 

vital  to  us,  and  we  should  go  forth  and  work 
with  more  of  gladness  and  of  cheer  as  we  re- 
member his  words,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  always." 
However,  this  is  distinct,  after  all,  from  the 
truth  we  are  discussing,  namely,  that  Jesus  is 
some  day  visibly  to  reappear. 

So,  too,  this  return  is  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  promised  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at 
Pentecost.  Both  comings  are  mentioned  in  the 
first  chapter  of  the  Acts.  First,  "Ye  shall  re- 
ceive power,  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come 
upon  you";  and  the  second,  "this  same  Jesus 
shall  so  come  in  like  manner.** 

The  marvels  of  Pentecost  were  rightly  at- 
tributed to  the  power  of  the  risen,  living,  divine 
Lord;  yet  long  after  that  memorable  day  the 
apostles  continued  to  predict  with  confidence 
the  fulfilment  of  this  second  promise,  and  to 
comfort  believers  by  the  assurance  of  the 
"praise  and  honor  and  glory"  they  should  re- 
ceive at  "the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Nor  yet  was  this  latter  promise  fulfilled  in  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.    It  is  easy  to  under- 


The  Visible  Coming  29 

stand  why  these  two  events  have  been  confused, 
for  both  were  predicted  by  our  Lord  in  the 
same  prophetic  discourse.  He  combined  the 
descriptions  and  used  the  features  of  the  nearer 
event  to  color  the  picture  of  the  more  remote. 
He  employed  the  approaching  doom  of  the 
sacred  city  as  a  type  and  symbol  of  the  judg- 
ments upon  his  enemies  that  will  attend  his 
visible  return.  One  of  these  great  events,  the 
fall  of  the  city  at  the  hands  of  Titus,  is  now  in 
the  distant  past,  but  the  other  is  still  future, 
namely,  the  glorious  reappearing  of  Christ. 

Nor  should  we  identify  the  coming  of  Christ 
with  the  death  of  a  believer.  It  is  true  that 
death  may  be  in  some  respects  but  the  servant 
in  black  livery  who  ushers  us  into  the  presence 
of  the  King;  "To  depart"  is  "to  be  with  Christ" 
which  for  us  "is  far  better" ;  "to  be  absent  from 
the  body"  is  "to  be  at  home  with  the  Lord." 
Yet,  death  is  inseparable  from  pain  and  loss 
and  sorrow  and  separation  and  anguish  and 
tears.  Death  is  still,  in  most  of  his  aspects, 
our  enemy;  but  the  coming  of  Christ  is  our 
blessed  hope ;  it  is  not  the  same  as  death.  When 
Christ  returns  he  will  raise  the  dead  and  will 


30  The  Return  of  Christ 

destroy  death  and  will  repair  all  the  evil  that 
death  has  wrought. 

Jesus  was  himself  very  careful  to  distinguish 
between  the  death  of  his  followers  and  his  own 
return.  In  the  closing  chapter  of  his  Gospel 
the  Apostle  John  records  the  prediction  of  the 
death  by  which  Peter  was  to  "glorify  God," 
and  the  further  statement  in  reference  to  the 
"beloved  disciple,"  that  possibly  he  might  not 
die  but  might  live  until  his  Lord  returned :  "If 
I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come,  what  is  that  to 
thee?"  Therefore  death  and  the  return  of 
Christ  are  not  identical,  but  are  contrasted 
events. 

More  startling  than  the  scenes  at  Pentecost, 
more  momentous  than  the  fall  of  Jerusalem, 
more  evident  and  significant  than  the  indwell- 
ing of  the  Spirit,  more  to  be  desired  than  our 
departure  to  be  with  the  Lord,  will  be  the 
literal,  visible  bodily  return  of  Christ. 

But,  someone  is  asking,  how  can  we  dis- 
tinguish this  one  event  from  the  others  with 
which  so  commonly  it  is  confused  ?  As  we  read 
the  Bible  how  can  we  be  sure  which  event  is 
being  described?    One  or  two  rules  may  be  of 


The  Visible  Coming  31 

help.  First,  the  terms  used  to  describe  the  re- 
turn of  our  Lord  are  definite  and  distinct. 
For  instance,  the  word  "coming"  which  is 
always  translated  in  the  margin  of  the  Revised 
Version  as  "presence,"  is  never  used  of  the 
spiritual  presence  of  Christ  or  of  the  coming 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  or  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  or  of  death.  This  is  a  precise  and 
technical  term ;  it  is  the  Greek  word,  "parousia" 
and  invariably  means,  in  relation  to  Christ, 
his  future,  glorious,  visible  appearing.  From 
the  earliest  centuries  this  appearing,  therefore, 
has  been  designated  by  Christian  writers  as 
"the  second  coming  of  Christ"  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  "first  coming,"  which  took  place 
in  the  incarnation  and  earthly  career  of  our 
Lord.  Therefore,  whenever  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment we  read  of  the  "coming  (parousia)  of 
Christ,"  we  can  be  absolutely  certain  that  the 
reference  is  to  his  glorious  return. 

Much  the  same  might  be  said  of  the  word 
"appearing,"  once  used  of  the  first  advent  (2 
Tim.  1:10),  but  elsewhere  of  the  glorious  re- 
turn from  heaven  (1  Tim.  6:14;  2  Tim.  4:18, 
8;  Titus  2:13;  2  Thess.  2:8),  or  of  the  word 
"revelation,"   when   employed   in   relation   to 


32  The  Return  of  Christ 

Christ  (2  Thess.  1  '.J  etc.),  or  the  phrases  "The 
day  of  the  Lord,"  "That  day,"  or  "The  day  of 
Jesus  Christ"  None  of  these  terms  is  ever 
employed  in  reference  to  spiritual  experiences, 
to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  or  to  providen- 
tial events;  all  of  them  point  to  the  return  of 
our  Lord. 

Or  take  another  equally  simple  rule:  con- 
sider the  context,  when  uncertain  as  to  the 
event  intended  by  a  reference  to  the  "coming 
of  Christ."  His  return  is  described  as  being 
"with  the  clouds  of  heaven"  and  with  "the 
glory  of  the  angels."  His  coming  is  to  be  "like 
the  lightning."  He  comes  to  deliver  his  follow- 
ers, to  raise  the  dead,  to  judge  the  world. 
Surely  none  of  these  features,  or  attendant  cir- 
cumstances, are  connected  with  any  statement 
as  to  the  spiritual  presence  of  Christ,  or  as  to 
any  other  event  described  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Many  other  important  truths  are  re- 
corded; but  none  is  more  carefully  distin- 
guished, or  more  graphically  set  forth,  than  the 
prediction  that  the  same  Jesus  who  walked  the 
hills  of  Galilee  and  hung  upon  the  cross  of 
Golgotha  and  ascended  into  heaven  will  reap- 
pear some  day  in  power  and  great  glory. 


The  Visible  Coming  33 

The  most  important  event  in  all  the  past  was 
the  coming  of  the  Son  of  God  from  heaven, 
and  the  supreme  event  of  the  future  is  to  be  the 
return  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  the  earth. 
The  sacred  writers  speak  with  reverence  and 
with  marked  reserve.  They  say  little  to  sat- 
isfy even  a  natural  curiosity  as  to  the  details 
and  continuance  of  this  reappearing.  Yet  they 
agree  in  expressing  its  visibility,  its  sublime 
impressiveness,  and  its  universal  import  and 
concern :  "For  as  the  lightning,  that  lighteneth 
out  of  the  one  part  under  heaven,  shineth  unto 
the  other  part  under  heaven;  so  shall  also  the 
Son  of  Man  be  in  his  day."  (Luke  17:24.) 

"Lot  He  comes,  with  clouds  descending, 
Once  for  favoured  sinners  slain; 
Thousand  thousand  saints  attending 
Swell  the  triumph  of  His  train; 
A lleluia !  A lleluia ! 
God  appears  on  earth  to  reign." 


Chapter  III:  The  Preceding  Events 


t( 


'And  this  gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be 
preached  in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  unto  all 
nations;  and  then  shall  the  end  come." 

(Matt.  24:14.) 

"Now  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  com- 
ing of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  our  gath- 
ering together  unto  him,  that  ye  be  not  soon 
shaken  in  mind,  or  be  troubled,  neither  by  spirit, 
nor  by  word,  nor  by  letter  as  from  us,  as  that 
the  day  of  Christ  is  at  hand.  Let  no  man  de- 
ceive you  by  any  means:  for  that  day  shall  not 
come,  except  there  come  a  falling  away  first, 
and  that  the  man  of  sin  be  revealed."  (2  Thess. 
2:1-3.; 


Chapter  III:  The  Preceding 
Events 

Men  of  the  world  seem  to  regard  the  future 
of  the  race  either  with  vain  self-confidence  or 
with  blank  despair.  The  more  ignorant  pre- 
dict the  coming  of  an  age  of  glory  to  be  secured 
by  social  revolution,  or  by  the  growth  of  de- 
mocracy, or  by  some  international  compact. 
The  more  thoughtful  see  that  the  cure  is  not 
so  simple.  They  realize  that  the  source  of 
human  ills  lies  in  the  selfishness  of  the  soul 
and  in  the  evil  of  the  human  heart.  They  are 
aware  that  human  nature  must  be  recon- 
structed, and  that  there  is  no  hope  in  a  Mil- 
lennium made  by  man.  They  observe  the  sin- 
ister forces  of  evil  now  at  work  in  society  and 
they  gloomily  predict  that  civilization  is  totter- 
ing to  its  fall. 

As  a  corrective  both  to  vain  hope  and  to  fool- 
ish fear  comes  the  revealed  truth  relative  to  the 
return  of  Christ.    The  New  Testament  teaches 

37 


38  The  Return  of  Christ 

that  there  is  no  excuse  for  shallow  optimism  or 
for  blind  despair.  It  shows  that  the  present 
age  is  one  of  mingled  good  and  evil,  but  it  de- 
clares that  good  will  be  made  to  triumph  in  a 
measure  by  the  power  of  the  Gospel,  and  com- 
pletely by  the  appearing  of  Christ. 

The  present  task  of  the  church,  the, supreme 
process  preceding  the  return  of  our  Lord  is, 
therefore,  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  of 
his  grace.  "This  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall 
be  preached  in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  unto 
all  nations;  and  then  shall  the  end  come." 
(Matt.  24:14.) 

This  preaching  is  to  be  no  mere  superficial 
heralding  of  the  good  news.  The  process  is 
clearly  indicated  by  the  work  of  the  apostles, 
who  sought  to  establish  in  every  land  Christian 
churches  which  would  be  self-supporting  and 
self -propagating,  the  members  of  which  would 
take  their  places  in  society  and  in  the  state, 
and  do  everything  in  their  power  to  purify  and 
strengthen  and  bless  the  circles  and  the  com- 
munities in  which  they  lived.  The  work  was 
substantial;  its  methods  were  sane  and  wise. 
Christians  were  to  be  the  "salt  of  the  earth"; 


The  Preceding  Events  39 

they  were  to  be  the  "light  of  the  world."  No 
theory  concerning  the  return  of  our  Lord  can 
be  Scriptural  which  subordinates  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  to  any  form  of  social  service, 
or  which  on  the  other  hand  fails  to  establish 
abiding  institutions,  or  to  express  in  human 
helpfulness  the  true  spirit  of  Christ. 

Still,  by  whatever  processes  it  may  be  carried 
on,  the  supreme  event,  the  incomparably  im- 
portant condition  to  be  fulfilled  before  the 
return  of  Christ,  is  the  preaching  of  his  Gospel 
in  all  the  world  and  unto  every  creature. 

Just  how  far  the  evangelization  of  the  world 
is  synonymous  with  the  conversion  of  the  world 
is  a  debated  question  to  which  no  exact  answer 
probably  can  be  given.  The  New  Testament  in- 
dicates, and  modern  history  is  recording,  great 
triumphs  of  the  Gospel.  Most  readers  inter- 
pret the  words  of  our  Lord  as  indicating  that 
the  influence  of  this  Gospel  will  permeate  all 
human  society,  and  that  Christian  institutions 
will  be  established  throughout  all  the  earth. 
The  number  of  Christian  nations  will  continue 
to  increase  and  when  the  work  of  conversion 
has  reached  its  climax  among  the  Gentiles, 
practically  the  entire  Jewish  race  will  accept 


40  The  Return  of  Christ 

Jesus  as  their  Messiah,  either  before  or  at  the 
time  of  his  return :  "For  I  would  not,  brethren, 
that  ye  should  be  ignorant  of  this  mystery," 
writes  the  apostle,  "that  blindness  in  part  is 
happened  to  Israel,  until  the  fulness  of  the  Gen- 
tiles be  come  in.  And  so  all  Israel  shall  be 
saved."  (Rom.  8:25,  26.)  The  present  age  is 
to  be  one  of  superb  missionary  effort,  and  the 
church  of  Christ  is  ever  to  be  a  source  of  bless- 
ing to  the  world. 

There  is,  however,  a  darker  side  to  the 
picture.  No  reader  of  prophecy  should  be  a 
pessimist,  yet  none  should  fail  to  give  due 
weight  to  the  inspired  teachings  which  declare 
that  the  present  age  will  ever  be  one  of  mingled 
good  and  evil,  and  that  its  close  will  be  marked 
by  days  of  deep  darkness  just  before  the  dawn 
of  a  brighter  era.  This  is  plainly  indicated 
by  the  parables  of  our  Lord,  by  his  definite 
prophecies  and  by  the  writings  of  the  apostles. 

For  instance,  in  the  parable  of  the  Wheat  and 
the  Tares,  which  Jesus  himself  interprets,  he 
pictures  the  character  of  the  present  age  down 
to  its  very  end ;  he  declares  that  his  truth  is  to 
be  proclaimed  and  his  followers  to  be  found  in 


The  Preceding  Events  41 

all  the  wide  world ;  yet  everywhere,  and  in  their 
very  midst,  there  will  appear  "the  sons  of  the 
evil  one" ;  and  this  mingled  condition  will  con- 
tinue during  the  entire  era:  "Let  both  grow 
together  until  the  harvest,"  and  "the  harvest" 
is  the  "end  of  the  age" ;  the  time  of  the  return 
of  Christ  and  of  the  "judgment" ;  then  "he  will 
gather  out  of  his  kingdom  all  things  that  cause 
stumbling,  and  them  that  do  iniquity,  and  shall 
cast  them  into  the  furnace  of  fire.  .  .  .  Then 
shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in 
the  kingdom  of  their  Father."     (Matt.  13:41- 

43-) 

Then  again  when  Jesus  sends  forth  his  dis- 
ciples to  witness  for  him  in  all  the  earth,  he  does 
not  encourage  them  with  any  promise  of  a 
world-wide  conversion  previous  to  his  return. 
On  the  contrary,  he  warns  them  that  they  will 
be  hated  and  despised  and  persecuted  even  until 
the  end. 

When  in  his  great  prophetic  discourses  he 
more  particularly  describes  the  character  of 
this  entire  age  and  of  the  events  which  consti- 
tute its  close,  he  insists  that  wars  are  not  merely 
to  mark  its  end,  but  are  to  characterize  this 
entire  era:  "And  ye  shall  hear  of  wars  and 


42  The  Return  of  Christ 

rumors  of  wars;  see  that  ye  be  not  troubled: 
for  all  these  things  must  come  to  pass,  but  the 
end  is  not  yet."  He  declares  that  just  before 
his  return  there,  will  be  on  earth  a  period  of 
unprecedented  distress  and  tribulation,  and  that 
"immediately  after  the  tribulation  of  those  days 
shall  the  sun  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall 
not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from 
heaven,  and  the  powers  of  the  heavens  shall 
be  shaken:  And  then  shall  appear  the  sign  of 
the  Son  of  man  in  heaven:  and  then  shall  all 
the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  and  they  shall 
see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven  with  power  and  great  glory."  (Matt. 
24:29,  30.) 

With  these  predictions  of  our  Lord  the 
teachings  of  his  apostles  are  in  exact  accord, 
both  as  to  the  mingled  good  and  evil  of  the  pres- 
ent age  and  as  to  the  distressful  features  which 
characterize  its  close.  When  they  refer  to  "the 
last  days,"  their  words  are  not  to  be  pressed 
too  literally ;  they  sometimes  did  have  those  ex- 
act days  in  mind,  but  frequently  they  referred 
to  those  days  asalready  existing,  and  always 
their  expressions  indicate  conditions  whicK~they 


The  Preceding  Events  43 

believed  would  obtain  to  jhe  very  end  of  the 
age.  That  is  to  say,  whenever  they  began, 
these  "last  days"  were  to  continue  until  the 
return  of  the  Lord. 

These  solemn  words  are  not  to  be  regarded 
lightly,  when,  for  example,  Paul  declares  in 
his  last  message:  "This  know  also,  that  in  the 
last  days  perilous  times  shall  come.  For  men 
shall  be  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  covetous, 
boasters,  proud,  blasphemers,  disobedient  to 
parents,  unthankful,  unholy,  without  natural 
affection,  trucebreakers,  false  accusers,  incon- 
tinent, fierce,  despisers  of  those  that  are  good, 
traitors,  heady,  highminded,  lovers  of  pleasures 
more  than  lovers  of  God ;  having  a  form  of  god- 
liness, but  denying  the  power  thereof."   (2  Tim. 

3:i-5.) 

In  his  last  message  to  the  Church,   Peter 

warns  us  that  the  characteristic  error  of  the 

false  teachers  who  appear  at  the  end  of  the 

age  will  be  the  denial  of  the  return  of  our  Lord : 

"There  shall  come  in  the  last  days  scoffers, 

walking   after   their    own   lusts,    and    saying 

Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?" 

Amid  the  dark  shadows  of  these  "last  times" 

looms  up  one  sinister  figure  of  imposing  power 


44  The  Return  of  Christ 

and  malevolent  purpose,  the  "Anti-Christ,"  the 
"Beast,"  the  "Man  ofj  Sin."  Endless  have 
been  the  speculations  concerning  this  mysterious 
and  malign  being.  One  thing  is  evident,  he  is 
in  full  career  at  the  time  when  Christ  returns. 
This  career  seems  to  have  been  made  possible 
by  a  great  apostasy  (2  Thess.  2:3),  a  "falling 
away"  from  a  true  faith  in  God.  Even  after 
the  world  has  been  evangelized,  apparently  out 
of  the  very  heart  of  Christendom,  steps  forth 
this  final  embodiment  of  evil,  who  will  demand 
for  himself  divine  worship,  who  will  arrogate 
universal  power,  who  will  cause  immeasurable 
suffering  to  the  people  of  God,  but  "whom  the 
Lord  Jesus  shall  slay  with  the  breath  of  his 
mouth,  and  bring  to  nought  by  the  manifesta- 
tion of  his  coming."     (2  Thess.  2:8.  R.  V.) 

Antiochus  Epiphanes  and  Nero  and  other 
cruel  tyrants  have  been  types  and  prophecies  of 
this  future  "Man  of  Sin."  John  tells  us  that 
persons  of  this  character,  men  of  this  same 
spirit,  real  "Anti-Christs,"  already  existed  in 
his  day.  Paul  declared  that  the  "iniquity" 
which  would  culminate  in  the  great  Apostasy 
and  in  the  Man  of  Sin  was  working  in  his  day, 
only   some   "restraining"   agency  or   person, 


The  Preceding  Events  45 

prevented  for  the  present  that  matchless  out- 
break of  "lawlessness"  which  would  call  for  the 
personal  intervention  of  the  returning  Christ. 

With  these  two  sides  of  the  picture  before  us 
it  is  evident  that  the  progress  of  Christianity 
it  not  to  be  uninterrupted  or  unopposed  as  it  ad- 
vances in  triumph.  While  the  Church  increases 
in  power  there  still  wilPBe"corrupting  forces 
within,  and,  as  the  age  nears  its  end  there  will 
be^amalignant  massing ot  iorces  from  without, 
mrtiTAppstasy  develops  and  "the  Lawless  One" 
appears ;  but  he  will  be  destroyed  by  the  return 
of  the  Lord,  who  comes  as  the  Saviour  of  his 
loved  ones,  and  as  the  Judge  of  their  enemies, 

"The  Judge  tliat  comes  in  mercy, 
The  Judge  that  comes  with  might, 
To  terminate  the  evil, 
To  diadem  the  right." 


Chapter  IV :  The  Events  to  Follow 


"I  saw  in  the  night  visions,  and,  behold,  one 
like  the  Son  of  man  came  with  the  clouds  of 
heaven,  and  came  to  the  Ancient  of  days,  and 
they  brought  him  near  before  him.  And  there 
was  given  him  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a  king- 
dom, that  all  people,  nations,  and  languages, 
should  serve  him:  his  dominion  is  an  everlast- 
ing dominion,  which  shall  not  pass  away,  and 
his  kingdom  that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed." 
{Daniel  7:13-14.) 


Chapter  IV:  The  Events  to 

Follow 

The  return  of  Christ  must  seem  to  many  per- 
sons to  be  vaguely  remote  in  time,  and  to  be 
utterly  unrelated  in  character  to  the  pressing 
problems  and  duties  of  daily  life.  By  the  early 
Christians,  however,  the  event  was  regarded  as 
one  which  might  occur  in  any  generation;  it 
was  their  constant  inspiration,  and  its  super- 
natural character  enabled  them  to  view  all  the 
experiences  of  time  in  the  transfiguring  light 
of  eternity.  To  them  it  was  a  practical  hope 
and  such  an  attitude  of  mind  should  be  ours. 
We,  too,  should  be  aided  by  this  truth  to  regard 
things  present  with  the  truer  perspective  which 
comes  from  a  belief  in  the  triumph  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  on  earth,  and  also  in  the  immortal- 
ity of  the  soul  and  in  the  glory  of  a  future  life. 

There  are  times  when  we  specially  need  the 
comfort  and  cheer  of  this  blessed  hope.  Who 
of  us  has  not  felt  the  sorrow  of  a  final  separa- 

49 


50  The  Return  of  Christ 

tion,  and  has  not,  with  wistful  eyes,  watched 
the  sails  sink  beneath  the  horizon  of  the  ulti- 
mate sea?  'Where  now  are  these  departed 
ones  ?  Will  they  ever  reappear  ?  "If  a  man  die 
shall  he  live  again?"  "How  are  the  dead  raised 
up?  and  with  what  body  do  they  come?" 
These  are  the  inevitable  questions  of  the  human 
soul,  and  the  answers  are  inseparable  from  the 
doctrines  concerning  the  coming  of  Christ. 

"The  resurrection  of  the  dead"  takes  place  at 
the  return  of  our  Lord.  The  Bible  plainly 
teaches  that  there  is  to  be  a  resurrection  both  of 
the  just  and  of  the  unjust.  Jesus  declared  that 
an  hour  was  coming  when  "all  that  are  in  the 
tombs"  should  hear  his  voice  and  come  forth, 
"they  that  have  done  good  unto  the  resurrection 
of  life;  and  they  that  have  done  evil  unto  the 
resurrection  of  judgment."  (John  5:28-29.) 
John  indicates  that  possibly  these  resurrections 
may  be  separated  in  time,  as  they  are  distinct 
in  character.  (Rev.  20:4-6.)  However,  the 
whole  stress  of  the  New  Testament  teach- 
ing is  laid  upon  the  resurrection  of  believers, 
and  this  event  is  made  prominent  as  one  of  the 
most  comforting  truths  of  our  Christian  faith. 
In  addition  to  many  briefer  references,  we 


The  Events  to  Follow  51 

find  that,  in  the  fifteenth  of  First  Corinthians, 
Paul  devotes  an  entire  chapter  to  this  theme. 

A  careful  study  shows  that  the  term  "resur- 
rection," when  applied  to  the  future  experience 
of  believers,  never  refers  to  the  mere  persis- 
tence of  personality,  or  to  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  or  to  a  spiritual  renewal  or  quick- 
ening, but  always  has  reference  to  the  clothing 
of  the  spirit  with  a  glorious  and  an  immortal 
body. 

Just  what  the  substance,  or  nature,  of  this 
body  is  to  be,  we  are  not  told;  only  that  it  is 
to  be  like  the  glorified  body  of  Christ.  It  is 
called  a  "spiritual  body" ;  which  does  not  mean 
that  it  is  "made  out  of  spirit,"  but  that  it  is 
perfectly  adapted  to  the  indwelling  of  the  per- 
fected spirit.  Christianity  is  not  a  religion 
which  predicts  a  future  state  of  shadowy, 
ghostly  and  insubstantial  felicity;  but  one  in 
which  glorified  beings  are  embodied  in  physical 
yet  heavenly  splendor.  It  is  intimated  that 
there  is  a  relation  between  the  present  mortal 
body  and  the  future  body  of  glory ;  but  in  what 
the  identity  consists  or  by  what  link  it  is  se- 
cured, is  not  made  plain. 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  resurrection 


52  The  Return  of  Christ 

is  a  future  event ;  it  does  not  take  place  at  death, 
but  at  the  return  of  Christ.  Our  loved  ones 
who  disappear  from  our  sight  pass  into 
heavenly  blessedness;  their  bodies  are  asleep 
but  not  their  souls;  they  are  "with  Christ," 
they  are  "at  home  with  the  Lord."  There  is, 
however,  one  degree  of  glory  which  they  do  not 
yet  enjoy.  They  are  now  disembodied  spirits, 
but  they  yet  are  to  be  clothed  wTtlTTmmor- 
tal  bodies  of  celestial  splendor.  This  ex- 
perience will  be  theirs  at  the  return  of  Christ. 
For  "now  hath  Christ  been  raised  from  the 
dead,  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  are  asleep. 
For  since  by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  For  as  in  Adam 
all  die,  so  also  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive. 
But  each  in  his  own  order:  Christ  the  first 
fruits;  then  they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  com- 
ing."    (i  Cor.  15:20-23.) 


The  return  of  the  Lord  also  brings  a  trans- 


formation  for_thgJiving.  It  is  commonly  said 
that  "nothing  is  so  sure  as  death";  there  is 
one  thing  more  sure;  it  is  that  one  generation 
of  Christians  will  never  die,  but  will  be  living 
when  the  Lord  returns,  and  at  his  coming, 


The  Events  to  Follow  53 

will  pass  into  glory  without  dying.  "Behold,  I 
tell  you  a  mystery:  We  all  shall  not  sleep,  but 
we  shall  all  be  changed,  in  a  moment,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last  trump :  for  the 
trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be 
raised  incorruptible,  and  we  shall  be -changed. 
For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption, 
and  this  mortal  must  put  on  immortality."  ( 1 
Corinthians  15:51-53,  R.  V.) 

However,  at  the  return  of  Christ,  believers 
are  not  only  to  be  transfigured,  they  "are  to  be 
translated:  "For  this  we  say  unto  you  by  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  that  we  that  are  alive,  that 
are  left  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  shall  in 
no  wise  precede  them  that  are  fallen  asleep. 
For  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from 
heaven,  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the 
archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God:  and 
the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first;  then  we 
that  are  alive,  that  are  left,  shall  together  with 
them  be  caught  up  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the 
Lord  in  the  air ;  and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the 
Lord."     (1  Thess.  4:15-17,  R.  V.) 

Concerning  this  so-called  Rapture  of  the 
Church  there  has  been  of  recent  years  much 


54  The  Return  of  Christ 

speculation.  It  is  taught  by  some  that  this 
Rapture  will  be  in  "secret,"  and  that  it  will  pre- 
cede the  reappearing  of  Christ  by  "three  and 
one-half  years,"  or  by  "seven  years,"  or  by 
"seventy  years";  that  Christ  thus  will  come 
first  "for  his  saints"  and  then  "with  his  saints, 
to  destroy  his  enemies."  It  is  further  asserted 
that  this  'secret  Rapture  may  occur  "at  any 
"time,"  or  at  "any  moment,"  before  the  events 
which  Paul  seems  to  indicate  will  precede  the 
coming  of  Christ,  such  as  the  Apostasy  and 
the  appearing  of  the  Man  of  Sin.  This  theory 
has  given  rise  to  many  mistaken  beliefs  and  to 
some  consequent  errors  of  practice. 

The  doctrine  appears  to  be  founded  upon  a 
false  interpretation  of  the  translation,  in  the 
King  James  Version,  of  the  opening  verse 
of  the  second  chapter  of  Second  Thessalonians, 
which  is  supposed  to  teach  that,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  a  "secret  rapture"  was  to  precede  the 
visible  return  of  Christ,  the  readers  of  the 
Epistle  were  urged  not  to  be  troubled  in  rela- 
tion to  the  subsequent  events  which  concern  the 
Apostasy  and  the  Man  of  Sin.  The  Revised 
Version,  however,  directly  contradicts  this  mis- 
taken view,  and  makes  perfectly  clear  the  mean- 


The  Events  to  Follow  55 

ing  of  the  original,  in  which  Paul  declared  that 
he  was  to  instruct  his  readers  specifically  in 
reference  to  the  events  which  must  precede 
this  rapture.  He  clearly  stated  that  the  day 
in  which  believers  were  to  be  delivered  from 
their  tribulations  (2  Thess.  1:6,  7),  flie  day  of 
Christ's  coming  and  of  their  "gathering  to- 
gether unto  him,"  would  not  dawn  "except  the 
falling  away"  came  first  and  "the  Man  of  Sin" 
was  revealed.     (2  Thess.  2:1-3.) 

Another  reason  assigned  for  this  theory  of  a 
secret,  imminent  rapture  is  the  exhortations  to 
watchfulness  given  by  our  Lord.  It  is  argued 
that  unless  his  return  is  possible  at  "any  mo- 
ment" it  will  be  impossible  to  watch.  However, 
it  should  be  noticed  that  these  exhortations  are 
usually  parts  of  long  discourses  in  which  Christ 
speaks  first  of  the  great  Tribulation,  which  the 
Man  of  Sin  will  impose,  and  then  mentions  cer- 
tain signs  of  his  coming,  and  urges  his  fol- 
lowers to  look  for  his  return  then,  when  the 
signs  appear.  Of  course  this  does  not  mean 
that  Christians  are  not  to  be  watchful  until  the 
closing  days  of  the  present  age  have  come.  The 
events  preceding  his  return,  of  which  Christ 
spoke,  were  such  as  could  occur  in  any  gener- 


56  The  Return  of  Christ 

ation,  and  some  of  them,  like  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel,  were  already  under  way.  Further- 
more, as  the  truest  manifestation  of  vigilance 
is  not  excited  expectation  but  faithfulness  in 
service,  then  surely  one  can  love  the  appearing 
of  Christ  even  though  he  does  not  believe  in  a 
"secret-any-moment  rapture"  of  the  Church. 

In  any  case,  the  order  of  events  which  are 
related  to  the  return  of  our  Lord  is  so  im- 
perfectly defined  in  the  New  Testament  that 
those  who  expect  his  coming  should  not  allow 
dissensions  or  divisions  to  arise  because  of  di- 
vergent views  as  to  the  time  when  believers  are 
to  be  "caught  up  in  the  clouds  to  meet  the  Lord 
in  the  air."  (1  Thess.  4:17.)  Rather,  we 
should  be  united  by  the  blessed  assurance  we 
all  share  that  "our  citizenship  is  in  heaven, 
whence  also  we  wait  for  a  Saviour,  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  fashion  anew  the  body 
of  our  humiliation  that  it  may  be  conformed  to 
the  body  of  his  glory."    (Philip.  3 120,  21.) 

Of  course,  this  day  of  resurrection  and  rap- 
ture is  not  to  be  relegated  to  the  dimness  of  far 
off  ages.  Paul  used  these  truths  to  comfort 
those  who  were  bereaved,  by  the  assurance  that 


The  Events  to  Follow  57 

the  time  of  the  coming  of  Christ  was  to  be  one 
of  reunion  with  those  loved  ones  who  had 
gone  to  be  with  the  Lord.  It  is  not  altogether 
consoling  to  a  heart  broken  by  bitter  loss  to  say, 
"You  are  certain  to  die  soon,  and  then  you  will 
be  with  those  you  love."  Paul,  at  least,  had 
another  message ;  it  was  that  the  living  mourner 
might  not  die,  but  that  the  dead  soon  might 
reappear.  "But  we  would  not  have  you  ig- 
norant, brethren,  concerning  them  that  fall 
asleep ;  that  ye  sorrow  not,  even  as  the  rest,  who 
have  no  hope.  For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died 
and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  that  are  fallen 
asleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him  .  .  . 
then  we  that  are  alive,  that  are  left,  shall  to- 
gether with  them  be  caught  up  in  the  clouds,  to 
meet  the  Lord  in  the  air :  and  so  shall  we  ever 
be  with  the  Lord.  Wherefore  comfort  one  an- 
other with  these  words."  (1  Thess.  4:13,  14, 
17,  18,  R.  V.)  There  is  a  certain  sense  in  which 
we  believe  in  "the  communion  of  saints,"  of 
even  the  living  with  the  dead.  We  all  share  in 
common  the  benefits  of  redeeming  love,  and  in 
Christ  we  are  ever  one.  Yet,  literally,  the  dead 
do  not  speak  to  us  nor  we  to  them ;  we  do  not 
see  them  and  we  are  not  certain  that  they  see 


58  The  Return  of  Christ 

us ;  but  Christian  hope  assures  us  of  an  actual 
reunion  at  the  coming-  of  Christ.  This  fact 
we  call  to  mind  at  "the  table  of  our  Lord,"  when 
we  point  forward  to  a  time  in  which  we  all  shall 
be  seated  together  at  "the  marriage  supper  of 
the  Lamb." 

"Some  from  earth,  from  glory  some, 
Severed  only  till  he  come." 

The  return  of  Christ  is  also  a  time  when 
Christians  receive  their  rewards.  Only  in  a 
popular  sense  can  we  speak  ot  the  dead  as  hav- 
ing "gone  to  their  reward."  In  reality  they  are 
still  waiting  for  their  rewards,  the  "crown  of 
life,"  or  the  crown  of  blessedness,  which  they 
ultimately  are  to  receive.  As  Paul  himself  de- 
clared, "henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  the 
crown  of  righteousness  which  the  Lord,  the 
righteous  judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day; 
and  not  to  me  only,  but  also  to  all  them  that 
have  loved  his  appearing."  (2  Timothy  4:8.) 
We  cannot  even  conjecture  the  nature  of  these 
future  rewards,  but  it  would  seem  that  the  chief 
of  all  is  to  be  that  spiritual  perfection  which 
will  result  from  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of 


The  Events  to  Follow  59 

Christ.  "It  is  not  yet  made  manifest  what  we 
shall  be.  We  know  that,  if  he  shall  be  mani- 
fested, we  shall  be  like  him:  for  we  shall  see 
him  even  as  he  is."    ( 1  John  3 :2,  R.  V.) 

This  matter  of  reward,  however,  suggests  a 
darker  side  of  the  doctrine,  for  there  are, re- . 
wards  for  the  wicked  as  well  as  for  the  good. 
Thecommg  of  Christ  introduces  the  Judgment. 
This  reality  is  painted  for  us  in  colors  which 
make  the  scene  impressive  and  solemn.  We  see 
the  picture  in  which  all  nations  are  gathered 
before  the  throne  of  the  Son  of  Man,  while 
some  are  sent  away  into  everlasting  punish- 
ment, and  others  are  given  a  place  in  the  king- 
dom which  has  been  prepared  before  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world.  Or,  again,  we  see  "a 
great  white  throne"  and  the  dead,  the  small 
and  the  great,  standing  before  it,  and  the  books 
are  opened,  "and  if  any  was  not  found  written 
in  the  book  of  life  he  was  cast  into  the  lake  of 
fire."  To-day  men  are  tempted  to  take  a  light 
view  of  sin,  and  to  look  upon  the  future  with 
carelessness  and  indifference.  It  might  be  well 
for  us  all  to  be  reminded  more  frequently  of 
the  reality  of  future  awards  and  of  the  fact 


60  The  Return  of  Christ 

that   present   deeds   are   determining   eternal 
destinies. 

Last  of  all,  but  most  important  of  all,  the 
chief  issue  of  the  coming  of  Christ  is  to  be  his 
universal  rule.  Even  the  word  "judgment ' 
has  a  brighter  meaning.  It  is  used  to  signify 
not  only  "condemnation"  but  also  "righteous 
rule."  The  coming  of  Christ  is  certain  to  be 
followed  by  the  perfected  kingdom  of  God. 
This  kingdom  has  its  heavenly  and  also  its 
earthly  aspects,  and  the  chief  reason  why  we 
should  hope  and  yearn  for  the  return  of  our 
Lord  is  because  we  believe  it  will  issue  in  the 
final  and  complete  fulfilment  of  that  matchless 
prayer :  "Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,  Hal- 
lowed be  thy  name.  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy 
will  be  done  in  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven." 

"Then  shall  wars  and  tumults  cease; 
Then  be  banished  grief  and  pain. 
Righteousness  and  joy  and  peace 
Undisturbed  shall  ever  reign." 


Chapter  V:    The  Millennium 


"And  I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from 
heaven,  having  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit  and 
a  great  chain  in  his  hand.  And  he  laid  hold  on 
the  dragon,  that  old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil, 
and  Satan,  and  bound  him  a  thousand  years, 
and  cast  him  into  the  bottomless  pit,  and  shut 
him  up,  and  set  a  seal  upon  him,  that  he  should 
deceive  the  nations  no  more,  till  the  thousand 
years  should  be  fulfilled:  and  after  that  he  must 
be  loosed  a  little  season.  And  I  saw  thrones, 
and  they  sat  upon  them,  and  judgment  was 
given  unto  them:  and  I  sazv  the  souls  of  them 
that  were  beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus, 
and  for  the  word  of  God,  and  which  had  not 
worshipped  the  beast,  neither  his  image,  neither 
had  received  his  mark  upon  their  foreheads,  or 
in  their  hands;  and  they  lived  and  reigned  with 
Christ  a  thousand  years.  But  the  rest  of  the 
dead  lived  not  again  until  the  thousand  years 
were  finished.  This  is  the  first  resurrection. 
Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first 
resurrection:  on  such  the  second  death  hath  no 
power,  but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of 
Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thousand 
years."    {Rev.  20:1-6). 


Chapter  V:  The  Millennium 

During  many  dreary  centuries  the  heavy 
hearts  of  men  have  been  cheered  by  promises  of 
a  coming  period  of  universal  peace  and  glad- 
ness, an  age  of  glory  and  of  gold.  This  future 
era  of  which  poets  and  prophets  have  dreamed 
and  sung,  has  been  known  popularly  as  the 
"Millennium,"  the  "Thousand  Years,"  and 
thus,  perhaps  unfortunately,  has  been  identi- 
fied with  the  period  described  by  John  in  the 
twentieth  chapter  of  his  Apocalypse. 

This  obscure  and  difficult  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture contains  a  highly  figurative  description  of 
a  limited  time  during  which  Satan  is  bound, 
and  the  nations  are  at  rest,  and  risen  martyrs 
reign  with  Christ;  but  after  this  "Thousand 
Years"  Satan  is  loosed  and  leads  the  nations 
of  the  earth  against  "the  camp  of  the  saints," 
and  "the  beloved  city";  but  his  hosts  are  de- 
stroyed by  fire  from  heaven  and  he  is  "cast 
into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone." 

All  this  is  full  of  mystery.    These  symbols 

63 


64  The  Return  of  Christ 

cannot  be  interpreted  with  certainty  or  with 
confidence.  No  prediction  of  such  a  limited  I 
period  of  peace  and  blessedness  is  found  else-' 
where  in  the  Bible.  That  the  kingdom  of  God 
ultimately  is  to  be  universal  upon  earth,  both 
the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  distinctly 
affirm,  but  they  nowhere  hint  that  it  is  to  be 
limited  to  a  "thousand  years,"  and  they  describe 
no  other  age  of  universal  peace  which  ends  in 
such  Satanic  rebellion  and  world-wide  war. 

Is  it  not  wise  to  raise  the  question  whether 
this  "Thousand  Years"  is  to  be  identified  with 
the  predicted  age  of  universal  blessedness  or 
with  the  prophecies  of  the  perfected  kingdom 
of  God  upon  earth? 

It  does  seem  to  many  students  that  the  im- 
portance of  this  particular  passage  of  Scripture 
has  been  unduly  emphasized.  By  its  interpreta- 
tions the  Church  of  Christ  is  thought  to  be 
hopelessly  divided.  Differing  views  of  this 
"Millennium"  are  supposed  permanently  to  sep- 
arate teachers  of  prophecy  into  three  more  or 
less  inclusive  camps.  One  holds  that  the  re- 
turn of  Christ  will  precede  the  Millennium; 
they  are  known  as  Premillennialists.  One 
holds  that  the  return  of  Christ  will  follow  the 


The  Millennium  65 

Millennium;  they  are  designated  Postmillen- 
nialists.  Others  hold  that  there  never  will  be 
a  Millennium  either  before  or  after  his  return. 
However,  an  increasing  number  of  earnest  be- 
lievers, classified  individually  in  one  or  the 
other  of  these  groups,  feel  convinced  that  such 
divisions  should  not  exist,  or  that  there  should 
be  a  new  appraisal  of  this  passage  and  its  re- 
lated prophecies,  or  at  least  that  differences  of 
riew  should  be  held  with  increasing  sympathy 
and  modesty  and  love. 

In  the  interpretation  of  this  particular  pas- 
sage, Premillennialists  obviously  enjoy  a  great 
advantage;  for  whatever  the  Millennium  may 
be,  here  it  is,  and  it  is  said  to  be  preceded  by  the 
coming  of  Christ  and  to  be  followed  by  "the 
new  heaven  and  the  new  earth."  Probably  no 
ordinary  reader,  unhampered  by  any  theory, 
would  receive  any  other  impression,  as  the 
order  of  the  chapters  is  simply  this : 

Chapter  xix    The  Return  of  Christ 

Chapter  xx      The  Millennium 

Chapter  xxi    The  New  Heaven  and  Earth 

The  position  of  the  Postmillennialists  is 
here  one  of  great  embarrassment,   for  their 


66  The  Return  of  Christ 

view  makes  it  necessary  to  reverse  this  order  of 
events;  they  must  prove  that  the  return  of 
Christ  follows  the  Millennium.  They  seek  re- 
lief by  supposing  that  Chapter  xix  described 
"the  first"  and  not  "the  second  coming  of 
Christ" ;  but  this  position  appears  very  difficult 
to  maintain.  For  one  reason,  this  scarcely 
seems  to  be  a  picture  of  the  humble,  despised 
Jesus,  who  was  last  seen  by  the  world  hanging 
dead  on  a  cross  between  two  thieves.  He  comes 
through  the  opening  skies,  he  is  followed  by  the 
armies  of  heaven,  on  his  brow  are  "many  dia- 
dems," he  smites  his  enemies  with  the  sword, 
and  rules  them  "with  a  rod  of  iron,"  he  treads 
"the  winepress  of  the  fierceness  of  the  wrath 
of  God"  and  his  name  is  written  "king  of 
kings  and  lord  of  lords."  Of  course  these 
terms  are  figurative,  but  they  seem  to  accord 
rather  with  those  uniformly  employed  to  de- 
scribe the  return  of  Christ. 

Yet  further  it  should  be  noted  that  the  "com- 
ing" of  Chapter  xix  is  directly  connected  with 
the  destruction  of  the  Anti-Christ,  the  "Beast," 
"The  Man  of  Sin."  With  his  discomfiture 
the  chapter  closes;  but,  his  overthrow  is  ac- 


The  Millennium  67 

complished,  not  at  the  "first,"  but  at  the  "second 
coming"  of  our  Lord.     (2  Thess.  2:8.) 

The  difficulty,  however,  is  greater  still.  If 
Chapter  xix  pictures  the  "first  coming"  of 
Christ,  where  is  the  mention  of  his  return? 
Chapter  xx  says  nothing  of  his  coming ;  so  that 
his  advent  after  the  Millennium  becomes 
merely  a  matter  of  the  imagination.  The 
awkwardness  of  the  situation  is  such  that  no 
guileless  Postmillennialist  attempts  to  con- 
ceal it. 


The  position  of  those  who  deny  that  there 
will  be  a  Millennium  is  even  more  delicate ;  for 
here  is  a  passage  which  describes  a  Millennium 
and  names  it  six  several  times.  However,  the 
calmness  and  adroitness  with  which  the  situa- 
tion is  met  are  such  as  always  have  elicited  ad- 
miration even  from  the  most  adverse  critics.  It 
is  confidently  asserted  that,  while  indeed  there 
never  will  be  a  Millennium  on  earth,  this  scene 
depicts  the  blessedness  of  the  saints  in  heaven. 

Now  it  might  be  remarked  that  the  suffering, 
sighing,  sorrowing  men  of  earth  are  not  greatly 
interested  in  a  Millennium  which  is  confined  to 
heaven,  and  further,  that  the  "saints  in  light" 


68  The  Return  of  Christ 

are  supposedly  quite  secure  before  such  a  Mil- 
lennium begins,  and  should  not  have  their 
eternal  felicity  shortened  to  so  comparatively 
brief  a  space  as  a  "thousand  years." 

However,  the  serious  trouble  is  that  John 
says  the  Millennium  is  to  be  on  earth,  and  says 
nothing  about  heaven.  He  states  that  during 
this  "thousand  years"  Satan  is  bound,  so  that 
"he  should  deceive  the  nations  no  more,"  and 
when  the  thousand  years  are  finished  he  comes 
forth  "to  deceive  the  nations  which  are  in  the 
four  corners  of  the  earth/'  and  these  nations 
go  up  "over  the  breadth  of  the  earth,"  and  com- 
pass "the  beloved  city"  until  fire  comes  down 
from  heaven  to  devour  them. 

One  should  not  be  suspected  of  any  lack  of 
charity  or  of  sympathy  who  expresses  the  be- 
lief that  some  more  plausible  explanation  of  the 
Millennium  will  be  found  than  that  which  re- 
moves it  from  earth  to  heaven. 

Premillennialists  evidently  enjoy  a  great  ad- 
vantage as  they  approach  this  particular  pas- 
sage, but  many  appear  to  press  their  advantage 
beyond  reason.  Here  is  a  Millennium,  and  it 
does  follow  the  return  of  Christ;  but  is  it  of 


The  Millennium  69 

such  a  character  as  to  contain  all  the  elements 
and  to  realize  all  the  features  sketched  by  the 
rather  exuberant  fancies  of  some  popular 
teachers  of  the  Premillennial  school? 

Here  is  the  picture  of  a  time  of  blessedness 
for  the  nations  of  the  earth ;  here  also  is  speci- 
fied a  "first  resurrection,"  which  consists  of  no 
mere  "spiritual"  experience;  for  those  who 
have  a  part  in  it  are  plainly  contrasted  with  "the 
rest  of  the  dead"  "who  lived  not  again  until 
the  thousand  years  were  finished";  and  here, 
best  of  all,  is  the  vision  of  a  reigning  Christ. 

However,  is  it  certain,  that  this  peace,  which 
the  nations  enjoy  for  a  season  before  they  are 
led  out  by  Satan  to  rebellion  and  destruction, 
is  the  peace  described  by  the  Old  Testament 
prophets,  to  which  peace  there  was  to  be  "no 
end"? 

Is  it  necessary  to  believe  that  the  risen  saints, 
in  glorified  bodies,  are  to  constitute  an  actual 
court  at  Jerusalem,  where  Christ  will  be  seated 
on  a  literal  throne,  ruling  with  Oriental  pomp 
and  splendor  for  a  limited  period  of  years?  Is 
this  the  perfected  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth, 
this,  reign  which  ends  in  universal  disaster  and 
carnage?     Is  it  at  this  time,  or  in  the  age  of 


70  The  Return  of  Christ 

"the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth"  that  all 
nature  is  to  be  renewed  and  the  whole  creation 
delivered  from  its  anguish  and  its  pain? 

It  does  seem  that  the  Premillennialists  crowd 
into  the  rather  dim  and  shadowy  limits  of  this 
"Millennium"  the  fulfilment  of  predictions  that 
have  a  wider  horizon  and  belong  to  ages  whose 
bounds  and  confines  are  never  named. 

It  may  fairly  be  replied  that  nations  at  peace, 
risen  saints,  and  a  reigning  Christ  constitute  a 
prospect  sufficiently  glorious  to  satisfy  our 
souls;  nevertheless,  it  should  be  admitted  that 
Premillennialists  do  have  difficulty  in  adapting" 
to  this  particular  passage  the  very  prophecies 
upon  which  they  depend  to  paint  the  picture  of 
their  Millennial  age. 

One  thing  is  absolutely  certain ;  this  passage 
makes  it  impossible  for  anyone  to  believe  in 
a  "secret  rapture"  of  the  church,  or  that  the 
return  of  Christ  may  be  "at  any  moment." 
This  false  theory  has  been  very  prominent  in 
the  teachings  of  many  modern  exponents  of 
Premillennial  views. 

According  to  this  theory,  the  "rapture  of  the 
church"  and  "the  first  resurrection"  precede  the 
appearing  of  the  Anti-Christ  and  the  Great 


The  Millennium  71 

Tribulation  which  he  will  inflict.  In  this  pas- 
sage, however,  the  order  is  exactly  reversed. 
Here  martyrs  who  had  suffered  under  the 
Anti-Christ,  martyrs  "that  were  beheaded  for 
the  witness  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of  God,, 
and  which  had  not  worshipped  the  beast,  neither 
his  image  .  .  .  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ" ; 
and,  as  John  declares,  "this  is  the  first  resurrec- 
tion." It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  return  of 
Christ,  "the  first  resurrection,"  and  the  "rap- 
ture" of  the  church,  must  take  place  after  the 
Anti-Christ  has  appeared,  and  not  before.  The 
martyrs  who  suffer  under  the  Anti-Christ  are 
here  declared  to  have  a  part  in  "the  first  res- 
urrection." Martyrs  must  die  before  they  are 
raised  from  the  dead.  The  Great  Tribulation 
must  precede  the  First  Resurrection  and  the 
Return  of  Christ. 

This  is  the  only  place  in  the  Bible  where  the 
phrase  "first  resurrection"  occurs.  It  is  very 
remarkable  therefore  that  any  person  can  teach 
that  the  "first  resurrection"  takes  place  before 
the  martyrs,  who  have  part  in  that  resurrection, 
have  been  beheaded. 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  one  can  be  a  con- 
vinced and  a  consistent  Premillennialist  with- 


72  The  Return  of  Christ 

out  accepting  this  perverted  though  popular 
view  of  a  "secret  rapture"  and  of  such  an  im- 
minent return  of  Christ  as  may  be  described  as 
"likely  to  occur  at  any  moment." 

The  relative  success  of  these  divergent 
schools  of  prophecy  in  dealing  with  this  par- 
ticular passage  of  the  Apocalypse,  is  purely  a 
matter  of  personal  opinion.  It  is,  however,  of 
deep  interest  to  observe  that  their  treatment  of 
this  chapter  illustrates  their  characteristic 
faults  in  relation  to  the  general  body  of  pro- 
phetic truth ;  and  it  is  of  supreme  importance  to 
note  that  these  faults  relate  not  to  the  essence 
of  the  truth  but  to  its  secondary  elements,  and 
are  embodied  in  certain  more  or  less  nebulous 
theories  relative  to  the  "Millennium."  It  is 
most  encouraging  to  find  that,  as  to  the  two  or 
three  great  cardinal  facts  of  prophecy,  all  these 
schools  agree,  even  though  each  may  advocate 
views  and  may  encourage  dangerous  tenden- 
cies which  are  open  to  honest  and  kindly 
criticism. 

For  instance,  the  attempt  to  compress  into 
the  limits  of  the  "Millennium"  all  the  inspired 
predictions  of  the   future  blessedness  of  the 


The  Millennium  73 

world,  illustrates  one  weakness  of  many  Pre- 
millennialists,  namely,  the  failure  to  distin- 
guish the  ages  and  dispensations  to  which 
various  prophecies  point. 

The  pathos  of  this  remark  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  one  thing  upon  which  a  Premillennialist 
usually  prides  himself  is  exactly  his  ability  to 
"distinguish  the  dispensations";  it  is  this  pride 
which  has  given  him  a  certain  facility  in  con- 
structing "charts"  and  "diagrams"  and  "plans" 
of  the  ages. 

Now  the  rule  of  "distinguishing"  the  ages  is 
an  admirable  one;  the  imputation  is,  however, 
that  many  Premillennialists  are  failing  to  apply 
their  own  rule. 

They  turn  to  the  Old  Testament  predictions 
and  correctly  restore  to  the  Jewish  nation  many 
promises  of  blessing  which  too  commonly  have 
been  appropriated  by  the  Christian  Church ;  but 
in  their  zeal  for  their  Hebrew  brethren  they 
go  too  far  and  surrender  to  them  many  glorious 
prophecies  which  properly  apply  to  this  present 
Gospel  age. 

Further,  they  take  the  Old  Testament  pre- 
dictions, which  speak  of  universal  and  timeless 
blessings  for  the  nations,  and  crowd  them  into 


74  The  Return  of  Christ 

the  "Millennium,"  when  many  of  these  predic- 
tions probably  refer  to  a  larger  and  more  glori- 
ous era  which  lies  beyond  the  millennial  age. 

When  they  turn  to  the  New  Testament  they 
reverse  the  process  in  reference  to  the  Jews. 
They  take  all  the  predictions  of  blessing,  and 
apply  them  to  the  church,  and  heap  upon  poor 
Israel  all  the  prophecies  of  woe.  They  teach 
that  the  church  is  to  be  "caught  away  secretly" 
from  this  scene  of  sorrow  and  distress,  and 
then,  under  the  Man  of  Sin,  Israel  is  to  suffer 
unparalleled  anguish.  Therefore  as  our  Lord, 
in  his  great  prophetic  discourse  of  Matthew 
twenty-four  and  five,  alludes  to  a  Great  Tribu- 
lation, these  teachers  hold  that  our  Lord  was 
giving  messages  intended  only  for  the  Jews  and 
not  for  the  church.  Similarly,  great  cor- 
responding portions  of  all  the  Gospels  are  desig- 
nated as  "Jewish" ;  and,  on  the  same  principle, 
all  of  the  Apocalypse,  from  chapter  four  to 
chapter  nineteen,  is  said  "to  belong  to  the 
Jews,"  and  to  have  no  relation  to  the  church. 

Now  this  unfortunate  belief  that  the  church 
is  to  be  caught  away  suddenly,  and  that  the 
whole  world  is  to  be  left  to  destruction,  has 
led  many  Premillennialists  to  take  a  very  de- 


The  Millennium  75 

spondent  view  of  the  future  and  a  very  nar- 
row view  of  their  task.  Because  "wheat  and 
tares"  are  to  "grow  together  until  the  harvest," 
some  teachers  fix  their  thoughts  wholly  upon 
the  "tares"  and  forget  the  "wheat,"  and  the 
probable  proportion  of  each  at  "the  end  of  the 
age."  Because  Satan  is  properly  called  the 
Prince  of  this  Age,  they  forget  how  Jesus  de- 
clared that  all  power  ("all  authority")  had 
been  given  to  himself  in  heaven  and  on  earth, 
and  that  he  expected  his  followers  to  go  forth 
and  to  "make  disciples  of  all  nations." 

Because  the  supreme  task  of  the  Church  is 
to  preach  the  Gospel  just  as  far  and  just  as  fast 
as  it  can,  and  among  all  nations,  and  because 
there  is  no  hope  of  a  better  world  and  of  a 
brighter  age  without  the  regeneration  of 
human  hearts,  some  forget  it  is  the  unques- 
tioned duty  of  every  follower  of  Christ  to  show 
his  spirit  and  to  imitate  his  example  in  every 
sphere  of  social  and  civil  and  industrial  and 
political  life. 

There  is  no  need  that  one  should  be  a  pessi- 
mist because  he  is  a  Premillennialist;  there  is 
no  reason  why  one  should  forget  the  sufferings 


76  The  Return  of  Christ 

of  his  fellow  men  because  he  is  looking  for  the 
return  of  Christ. 


The  obvious  weakness  of  the  Postmillennial- 
ist  is  his  futile  endeavor  to  crowd  into  the  pro- 
phetic scheme  some  kind  of  an  imaginary  "Mil- 
lennium" before  the  predicted  return  of  the 
Lord.  He  seems  to  utterly  neglect  the  Scrip- 
tures which  speak  of  the  evil  and  continuing 
characteristics  of  this  present  age,  he  is  wise  in 
looking  cheerfully  on  "the  wheat,"  but  fatuous 
in  his  forgetfulness  of  "the  tares" ;  he  has  little 
place  in  his  scheme  for  an  "Apostasy,"  or  for  a 
"Man  of  Sin,"  or  for  the  predictions  of  Jesus, 
and  of  Paul  and  of  Peter,  as  to  the  character 
of  the  "last  day" ;  he  finds  it  difficult  to  preach 
a  satisfactory  sermon  on  the  words  of  our 
Lord,  "When  the  Son  of  Man  cometh  shall  he 
find  faith  on  the  earth?" 

The  false  hope  of  an  age  of  gold  and  of 
glory,  evolving  out  of  present  conditions,  and 
attainable  by  the  powers  of  man,  has  led  many 
teachers  of  this  school  into  a  false  and  foolish 
optimism,  and  into  the  endeavor  to  secure  a 
Millennium  by  some  form  of  social  reconstruc- 


The  Millennium  77 

tion,  of  universal  democracy,  of  international 
compact. 

To  such  empty  dreams  may  be  traced  much 
of  unpreparedness  in  time  of  war,  much  radical 
socialism  in  times  of  peace,  and  constant  en- 
deavors to  "save  society"  aside  from  the  trans- 
formation of  individual  souls. 

Of  course  these  weaknesses  need  not  char- 
acterize Postmillennialists ;  only  it  is  fair  to  say 
that  they  are  as  much  in  danger  of  dogmatism, 
and  quite  as  often  the  victims  of  strange  vaga- 
ries as  are  their  brethren  of  the  Premillennial 
school. 

Those  who  deny  that  a  Millennium  is  ever  tc 
appear  upon  earth  seem  to  attach  too  little 
weight  to  the  stirring  prophecies  of  the  Old 
Testament  which  speak  of  the  time  when  na- 
tions shall  learn  war  no  more,  when  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Lord  shall  cover  the  earth,  when 
there  shall  be  one  Lord,  when  the  kingdom  of 
God  will  be  perfect  and  universal  in  all  the 
world.  They  do  not  appear  to  consider  all  that 
Jesus  has  said  of  "the  regeneration,"  or  Peter 
of  "the  restitution  of  all  things,"  or  Paul  of  the 


78  The  Return  of  Christ 

deliverance  of  "the  whole  creation"  from  its 
present  bondage  of  corruption. 

They  are  helpful,  however,  in  reminding 
the  Postmillennialists  of  the  impossibility  of 
finding  in  the  Scriptures  any  prediction  of  a 
Millennium  on  earth  during  the  present  age 
and  before  the  return  of  the  Lord. 

They  wisely  restrain  the  Premillennialists 
from  introducing  into  the  Millennial  era  fea- 
tures of  blessing  which  belong  to  other  ages. 
Possibly  they  are  pointing  all  students  of  pro- 
phecy toward  a  meeting  ground  where  they  can 
unite  in  closer  fellowship  and  can  be  stimulated 
by  a  more  unified  hope. 

These  teachers  hold  that  the  age  of  glory 
which  lies  beyond  us  is  pictured  by  John  as  a 
"new  heaven  and  a  new  earth."  They  term  this 
"the  eternal  age,"  but  their  most  distinguished 
writers  affirm  that  this  age  is  to  have  its 
earthly  as  well  as  its  heavenly  phase.  That  is, 
while  not  believing  that  a  Millennium  will  ap- 
pear on  earth,  they  do  affirm  that  there  will  be 
an  age  of  glory  upon  earth. 

Excepting  in  the  use  of  terms,  is  not  this  a 
near  approach  to  the  position  of  the  Premil- 


The  Millennium  79 

lennialist?  Is  this  essentially  different  from 
the  view  of  the  Postmillennialist,  who  likewise 
believes  that  this  "eternal  age"  with  its  earthly 
phase  will  follow  the  return  of  Christ? 

Shall  this  one  prediction  of  the  Millennium 
(Revelation  20)  be  allowed  to  seriously  sep- 
arate those  who  look  for  the  return  of  Christ? 
Both  the  Premillennialist  and  the  Postmillen- 
nialist admit  that  the  Millennial  age  for  which 
they  are  hoping  is  to  be  imperfect  in  nature, 
limited  in  time,  and  sure  to  end  in  the  "last 
great  failure  of  mankind";  both  look  for  a 
future  age  of  unbounded  glory  to  follow  the 
coming  of  Christ.  Taking  this  passage  at  its 
face  value,  it  does  seem  to  predict,  after  the 
return  of  our  Lord,  a  transitional  age  desig- 
nated as  "the  thousand  years" ;  but  its  content 
is  so  uncertain,  and  its  description  so  brief  and 
mysterious,  that  it  need  hardly  be  regarded  as 
the  supreme  object  upon  the  horizon  of  the 
future.  Whatever  their  divergence  of  beliefs 
as  to  many  matters  of  real  significance,  all 
schools  of  prophetic  teaching  are  brought 
closer  together  as  they  unite  in  emphasizing 
the  two  great  facts  of  inspired  prediction,  the 


80  The  Return  of  Christ 

return  of  Christ,  and  the  ultimate,  universal, 
perfected  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth. 

"Jesus  shall  reign  zvhere'er  the  sun 
Does  his  successive  journeys  run, 
His  kingdom  stretch  from  shore  to  shore, 
Till  moons  shall  wax  and  wane  no  more." 


Chapter  VI:   The  Perfected  Kingdom 


"And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth: 
for  the  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  are 
passed  away;  and  the  sea  is  no  more.  And  I 
saw  the  holy  city,  New  Jerusalem,  coming  down 
out  of  heaven  from  God,  made  ready  as  a  bride 
adorned  for  her  husband.  And  I  heard  a  great 
voice  out  of  the  throne  saying,  Behold,  the 
tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  shall 
dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  peoples, 
and  God  himself  shall  be  with  them,  and  be 
their  God. 

"And  the  nations  shall  walk  amidst  the  light 
thereof:  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  do  bring 
their  glory  into  it."    (Rev.  21  n-3,  24.  R.  V.) 

"And  he  shewed  me  a  river  of  water  of  life. 
And  on  this  side  of  the  river  and  on  that  was 
the  tree  of  life,  bearing  twelve  manner  of 
fruits,  yielding  its  fruits  every  month;  and  the 
leaves  of  the  tree  were  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations."    (Rev.  22 :2.    R.  V.) 


Chapter  VI:  The  Perfected 
Kingdom 

"And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth." 
With  these  words  the  Apostle  John  introduces 
the  last  and  loveliest  vision  of  his  Apocalypse. 
The  book  has  been  filled  with  strange  symbols 
and  mysterious  signs,  but  its  constant  message 
has  been  plain;  it  has  been  encouraging  its 
readers  with  an  assurance  of  the  certain  tri- 
umph of  the  cause  of  Christ.  This  last  striking 
scene  is  likewise  full  of  mystery,  but  its  general 
meaning  probably  should  be  interpreted  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  message  of  the  book.  It, 
too,  may  be  a  highly  symbolic  picture  of  the 
perfected  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth. 

There  are,  of  course,  other  possible  views. 
According  to  one,  these  closing  chapters  of  the 
Revelation  depict  the  present  condition  and  pri- 
vileges of  the  Christian  Church  during  the 
existing  age.    According  to  a  second  view  the 

scene  reveals  to  us  the  future  blessedness  of  the 

83 


84  The  Return  of  Christ 

saints,  who  have  been  transported  to  some  dis- 
tant sphere,  and  in  resurrection  bodies  are 
dwelling  amid  heavenly  glories. 

No  interpretation  is  free  from  difficulties.  Is 
it  not  possible,  however,  that  these  chapters 
while  containing  much  in  support  of  these  two 
views,  rather  fix  our  thought  upon  the  peace 
and  righteousness  and  joy  which  will  some  day 
flood  with  splendor  this  very  earth  on  which 
we  dwell? 

It  would  be  in  accord  with  such  a  view  to 
notice  that  there  are  two  terms  in  the  New 
Testament,  each  of  which  is  translated  by  the 
word  "new."  One  describes  that  which  has 
recently  come  into  being;  the  other  character- 
izes that  which  has  long  existed,  but  which 
assumes  a  new  aspect.  It  is  the  latter  word 
which  John  uses  when  he  introduces  the  picture 
of  the  "new  heaven  and  the  new  earth."  He 
is  not  necessarily  describing  a  planet  or 
heavenly  sphere,  called  into  existence  to  be  the 
eternal  home  of  the  saints  in  light ;  but  rather 
is  picturing  the  moral  and  spiritual,  possibly 
also  the  physical  transformations  which  will 
characterize  an  age  of  glory  upon  earth.  It  is 
in  agreement  with  this  thought  that  he  at  once 


The  Perfected  Kingdom        85 

declares,  "and  there  was  no  more  sea."  Why 
make  this  statement  in  reference  to  a  world 
which  is  literally  new?  If  the  "first  heaven" 
and  the  "first  earth"  were  actually  destroyed, 
of  course  there  would  be  no  more  sea,  just  as 
there  would  be  no  more  land,  no  more  moun- 
tains or  cities;  but  it  would  appear  that  John 
is  using  the  sea  as  a  symbol  of  certain  features 
of  this  present  age  which  will  be  absent  from 
the  age  to  come. 

He  proceeds  to  describe  the  new  Jerusalem, 
the  Christian  Church,  not,  however,  as  a  newly 
created  city,  but  rather  as  a  future  phase  of 
"the  Jerusalem  which   now   is."      (Galatians 

4:25.) 

Furthermore,  John  declares  that  "the  nations 

shall  walk  amidst  the  light"  of  this  city,  "and 

the  kings  of  the  earth  shall  bring  their  glory 

into   it."      (Rev.    21:24.)      It   is   difficult   to 

imagine  that  John  is  here  referring  to  a  new 

globe  to  which  the  nations  of  the  earth  have  in 

some  way  been  transferred. 

Again,  John  describes  "the  tree  of  life,"  and 

declares  that  "the  leaves  of  the  tree  were  for 

the  healing  of  the   nations."      (Rev.   22:2.) 

From  these  and  other  features  of  this  highly 


86  The  Return  of  Christ 

symbolic  scene  it  would  appear  that  we  have 
here  a  description  of  the  condition  which  will 
exist  on  earth  when  the  Church  has  fulfilled  her 
great  mission,  when  all  the  world  rejoices  in 
the  truth  which  she  embodies,  when  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  complete,  when  his  dwelling  place 
is  among  men. 

Such  a  picture  would  form  a  fitting  close  to 
the  entire  Bible,  for  from  first  to  last  the  drama 
of  a  Paradise  Lost  moves  toward  the  climax  of 
a  Paradise  Regained.  Both  Old  Testament 
and  New  are  replete  with  predictions  of  a  per- 
fected kingdom  of  God  among  men.  This,  in 
fact,  might  be  stated  as  the  very  theme  of  the 
Bible.  It  is  the  story  of  redemption;  more 
fully  stated,  its  great  subject  is  redemption 
through  Jesus  Christ  with  a  view  to  the  estab- 
lishment upon  earth  of  the  perfected  Kingdom 
of  God. 

The  fulfilment  of  these  predictions  would 
seem  to  be  too  great  and  glorious  to  be  crowded 
into  the  narrow  and  shadowy  confines  of  a 
Millennium  such  as  is  described  in  the  twen- 
tieth chapter  of  Revelation.  That  Millennium 
follows  a  scene  of  unparalleled  carnage,  and 
closes  with  a  picture  of  universal  war;  but  an 


The  Perfected  Kingdom         87 

age  is  to  come  when  "nation  shall  not  lift  up 
sword  against  nation;  neither  shall  they  learn 
war  any  more."  (Is.  2:4.)  The  Millennium 
of  Revelation  intimates  a  reign  of  Christ  for 
"a  thousand  years,"  but  the  Old  Testament 
prophecies  of  Messiah's  reign  declare  that  his 
rule  is  to  be  not  only  universal  but  unending ;  if 
not  literally  "eternal"  upon  the  earth,  at  least 
not  limited  to  a  definite  period  of  years :  "They 
shall  fear  thee  as  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  en- 
dure, throughout  all  generations.  ...  In  his 
day  shall  the  righteous  flourish ;  and  abundance 
of  peace  so  long  as  the  moon  endureth.  .  .  . 
His  name  shall  endure  for  ever :  his  name  shall 
be  continued  as  long  as  the  sun :  and  men  shall 
be  blessed  in  him:  all  nations  shall  call  him 
blessed."  (Psalms  72:5,  7,  17.)  The  initial 
fulfilment  of  all  such  Old  Testament  prophecies 
appears  to  be  in  the  present  age  of  Gospel  influ- 
ences, but  the  ultimate  fulfilment  seems  to  ex- 
tend to  a  future  unlimited  era  of  blessedness 
upon  earth. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  just  how  far  these 
predictions  are  to  be  interpreted  as  literal ;  but 
they  seem  to  indicate  such  changes  in  man  and 
in  nature  as  will  be  permanent,  and  such  as 


88  The  Return  of  Christ 

would  make  impossible  the  tragedy  in  which 
the  Millennium  is  pictured  as  ending;  as,  for  in- 
stance, when  Isaiah  says :  "The  wolf  also  shall 
dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard  shall  lie 
down  with  the  kid;  and  the  calf  and  the  young 
lion  and  the  f  atling  together :  and  a  little  child 
shall  lead  them."  (Is.  11:6.)  These  prophe- 
cies seem  to  point  to  the  time  of  the  "new 
earth,"  rather  than  to  the  limited  and  imperfect 
era  of  the  "thousand  years." 

Those  who  feel  convinced  that  the  predicted 
reign  of  Christ  upon  earth  is  fulfilled  in  the 
Millennium  are  wont  to  lay  great  stress  upon 
the  message  of  the  angel  to  Mary,  the  Mother 
of  Jesus:  "The  Lord  God  shall  give  unto  him 
the  throne  of  his  father  David  and  he  shall 
reign  over  the  house  of  Jacob  forever,  and  of 
his  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end."  (Luke 
1 132.)  It  is  insisted  that  this  throne  of  David 
denotes  an  actual  court  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem 
where  Christ  will  be  enthroned  as  the  literal 
King  of  the  Jews,  and  there,  in  company  with 
glorified  saints,  will  reign  for  a  thousand  years ; 
but  if  such  a  literal  interpretation  is  demanded 
for  the  phrase  "the  throne  of  his  father  David," 


The  Perfected  Kingdom         89 

why  shall  there  not  be  an  equal  insistence  upon 
the  term  "forever,"  and  upon  the  promise  that 
"of  his  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end"  ?  If  it 
should  be  granted  that  the  fulfilment  of  this 
prediction  begins  with  a  millennial  reign,  surely 
its  completeness  must  include  ages  of  infinitely 
longer  duration.  Both  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New  apparently  indicate  that  the  prophets 
who  spoke  of  the  perfected  kingdom  of  Christ 
agree  with  Daniel  when  he  declared  that  this 
kingdom  was  to  supersede  permanently  other 
kingdoms  on  earth.  Such  are  his  words,  "and 
there  was  given  him  dominion  and  glory  and  a 
kingdom  that  all  peoples,  nations  and  languages 
should  serve  him ;  his  dominion  is  an  everlast- 
ing dominion  which  shall  not  pass  away,  and 
his  kingdom  that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed." 
(Daniel  7:14.) 

In  all  these  predictions,  however,  the  per- 
fected kingdom  of  Christ  seems  to  be  subse- 
quent to  his  visible  return  in  glory.  Only  then 
can  the  "new  earth"  appear.  As  Jesus  de- 
clared, "the  regeneration,"  the  renewed  heaven 
and  earth,  the  age  of  glory  and  of  gold,  will 
come  only  when  "the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  on 
the   throne   of    his   glory."      (Matt.    19:28.) 


90  The  Return  of  Christ 

Whatever  of  future  blessedness  for  his  follow- 
ers may  be  symbolized  in  this  prediction,  it  is 
evident  that  the  reign  he  inaugurates  and  the 
blessedness  they  receive  follow  his  future 
return. 

In  the  second  recorded  sermon  of  Peter  there 
is  a  surprising  but  plain  prediction,  when  he 
urges  his  hearer  to  repent,  "that  so  there  may 
come  seasons  of  refreshing  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord;  and  that  he  may  send  the  Christ 
who  hath  been  appointed  for  you,  even  Jesus: 
whom  the  heaven  must  receive  until  the  times 
of  restoration  of  all  things,  whereof  God  spake 
by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets  that  have 
been  from  of  old."  (Acts  3:19-21.)  It  is  very 
evident  then  that  only  after  the  return  of  Christ 
can  the  earth  rejoice  in  these  "seasons  of  re- 
freshing" and  in  "the  restoration  of  all  things." 

That  this  ruined  earth,  in  fact  that  the  whole 
creation,  is  to  receive  such  a  renewal  is  even 
more  fully  declared  in  the  profound  and  sig- 
nificant passage  which  Paul  has  penned  in  his 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  where  he  declares  that 
"the  earnest  expectation  of  the  creation  waiteth 
for  the  revealing  of  the  sons  of  God."     (Rom. 


The  Perfected  Kingdom         91 

8:19.)  This  "revealing  of  the  sons  of  God" 
refers  to  their  manifestation  in  glory  at  the 
appearing  of  Jesus  Christ,  when,  as  Paul  de- 
clares, "the  creation  itself  shall  be  delivered 
from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  liberty 
of  the  glory  of  the  children  of  God."  Paul  fur- 
ther adds  "for  we  know  that  the  whole  creation 
groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until 
now.  And  not  only  so,  but  ourselves  also  .  .  . 
waiting  for  our  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemp- 
tion of  our  body."  (Rom.  8:21,  22,  23.)  It 
is  clear,  therefore,  that  after  the  glorification  of 
his  followers,  after  the  return  of  Christ,  the 
whole  creation  will  be  glorified  and  renewed. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  likewise,  seems 
to  indicate  that  in  such  a  "future  inhabited 
earth,"  in  such  a  "world  to  come,"  Christ  is  to 
attain  his  predicted,  universal  rule,  as  Son  of 
God  and  Son  of  man.     (Heb.  1:6,  13;  2:5-8.) 

Perhaps  the  most  difficult,  but  possibly  the 
most  definite  passage,  identifying  the  "new 
heaven  and  the  new  earth"  with  the  future 
completed  kingdom  of  God  among  men,  is 
found  in  the  closing  chapter  of  Second  Peter. 


92  The  Return  of  Christ 

Here  the  Apostle,  as  he  describes  the  return  of 
Christ,  does  at  first  seem  to  indicate  that  at 
this  time  the  present  globe  is  to  be  destroyed 
before  the  appearance  of  "new  heavens  and  a 
new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness." 
He  declares  "that  the  day  of  the  Lord  will  come 
.  .  .  and  the  earth  and  the  works  that  are 
therein  shall  be  burned  up."  It  should  be  noted, 
however,  that  for  the  words  "burned  up,"  the 
most  ancient  manuscripts  read  "discovered" 
(R.  V.  margin).  Nor  does  this  necessarily 
mean  the  destruction  of  the  earth,  for  Peter  is 
comparing  the  changes  which  will  introduce 
the  "new  earth"  with  those  produced  by  the 
Deluge  in  which  he  also  declares  "the  world 
that  then  was  being  overflowed  with  water 
perished."  What  he  predicts  is  not  an  end  of 
the  globe  but  a  moral  transformation  of  the 
world. 

It  should  be  further  noted  that  Peter  is  here 
employing  figures  of  speech  borrowed  from  the 
closing  chapters  of  Isaiah.  The  prophet  speaks 
of  the  "new  heavens  and  new  earth"  and  gives 
this  figure  of  speech  both  to  Peter  and  to  John ; 
but  he  uses  it  merely  in  relation  to  spiritual 
changes  or  political  convulsions  and  never  in- 


The  Perfected  Kingdom         93 

tends  to  describe  a  destruction  of  the  world. 
It  would  seem  that  the  coming  of  Christ  will 
be  attended  by  terrific  convulsions,  by  social 
and  cosmic  disturbances,  but  that  the  issue 
will  be  a  new  and  better  age.  The  whole  stress 
of  his  prediction  seems  to  be  laid  by  Peter  upon 
the  phrase  which  describes  the  "new  earth"  as 
being  one  "wherein  dwelleth  righteousness." 
Whatever  transformation  may  await  this 
world,  whatever  changes  may  come,  it  would 
seem  that  the  perfected  kingdom  of  God  will 
be  preceded  by  the  personal  and  visible  return 
of  Christ.  It  may  be  unreasonable  to  expect 
that  all  men  will  agree  upon  the  exact  character 
of  the  predicted  millennium  whether  they  place 
this  before  or  after  the  return  of  Christ;  but  a 
millennium  is  not  the  goal  of  prophecy;  this 
goal  is  the  perfected  kingdom  of  God  upon 
earth ;  and  an  increasing  number  of  Christians 
are  uniting  in  the  belief  that  this  unlimited  and 
glorious  kingdom  of  God  is  depicted  by  John 
under  the  figure  of  a  "new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth";  and  therefore,  they  earnestly  pray — 

"Come,  and  make  all  things  new; 
Build  up  this  ruined  earth; 
Restore  our  faded  Paradise, 
Creation's  second  birth. 


94  The  Return  of  Christ 

"Come,  and  begin  thy  reign 
Of  everlasting  peace; 
Come,  take  the  kingdom  to  thyself, 
Great  King  of  Righteousness/' 


Chapter  VII:   The  Present  Duty 


"Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations, 
baptising  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  Teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  that  I  have  com- 
manded you;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  yon  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world."    (Matt.  28 :  19-20. ) 

"And  that  knowing  the  time,  that  now  it  is 
high  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep:  for  now  is  our 
salvation  nearer  than  when  we  believed.  The 
night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand:  let  us 
therefore  cast  off  the  works  of  darkness,  and 
let  us  put  on  the  armour  of  light."    {Rom.  15 : 

13-HO 
"But  ye,  brethren,  are  not  in  darkness,  that 

that  day  should  overtake  you  as  a  thief.  Ye 
are  all  the  children  of  light,  and  the  children 
of  the  day:  we  are  not  of  the  night,  nor  of  dark- 
ness. Therefore  let  us  not  sleep  as  do  others; 
but  let  us  watch  and  be  sober."     (1   Thess. 

5:4-50 

"Watch  therefore:  for  ye  know  not  on  what 
day  your  Lord  cometh."    (Matt.  24:42,  R.  V.) 


Chapter  VII:  The  Present 
Duty 

In  these  familiar  words  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
indicated  what  should  be  our  attitude  of  mind 
toward  the  reality  of  his  visible  return;  it 
should  be  that  of  continual  watchfulness.  One 
immediate  result,  probably  the  supreme  conse- 
quence of  such  watchfulness,  will  be  devotion 
to  the  service  of  the  Master.  However,  to 
"watch"  and  to  "work,"  while  vitally  related, 
are  not  the  same.  There  may  be  idle  watching, 
and  there  may  be  hopeless  toil.  Therefore,  our 
Lord  proceeded  to  explain  at  great  length  ex- 
actly what  he  regarded  as  the  nature  and  the 
results  of  a  true  "watching"  for  his  return. 

He  showed  that  the  term  must  include  a  main 
element  of  real  expectancy,  yet  he  further  indi- 
cated that  this  should  be  as  far  removed  from 
feverish  excitement  as  from  careless  disregard. 
During  this  present  age  Christians  are  not  to 
consider  the  coming  of  Christ  as  imminent, 
until  certain  conditions  are  fulfilled.     Nor  yet 

97 


98  The  Retinyi  of  Christ 

are  they  to  relegate  his  return  to  a  distant 
future,  because  all  of  these  conditions  may  be 
fulfilled  in  any  generation.  It  is  as  unwise  to 
say  that  the  Lord  now  may  return  "at  any  mo- 
ment' '  as  it  is  to  insist  that  he  cannot  come  until 
after  a  "thousand  years,"  or,  as  some  are  inti- 
mating, until  after  the  lapse  of  "a  thousand 
millenniums." 

The  instructions  of  our  Lord  were  very  clear. 
In  the  prophetic  discourse  which  reached  its 
climax  in  the  exhortation  to  "watch,"  he  made 
it  plain  that  his  return  would  not  be  immediate ; 
he  declared  that  a  long  time  would  elapse  be- 
tween his  ascension  and  his  coming  in  glory. 
He  described  this  present  age  which  must  in- 
tervene. He  spoke  of  its  "wars  and  rumors  of 
wars"  as  characteristics  of  this  era  and  not  as 
signs  of  its  end.  He  declares  that  the  Gospel 
should  first  be  preached  "in  all  the  world"  and 
"unto  all  nations"  before  that  end  could  come. 
He  prophesied  distinctly  that,  before  his  re- 
turn, Jerusalem  would  be  destroyed,  an  event 
which  did  not  occur  until  more  than  thirty 
years  after  this  discourse  was  delivered.  He 
predicted  that  his  followers  would  be  found 


The  Present  Duty  99 

among  all  nations  and  often  be  hated  and  perse- 
cuted, and  that  false  prophets  and  false  Christs 
would  arise.  He  stated  further  that  just  before 
his  return  there  would  be  a  Great  Tribulation, 
more  terrible  than  the  world  had  ever  seen,  and 
that  "immediately  after  the  tribulation"  there 
would  be  startling  and  unmistakable  signs  in 
the  heavens,  and  then  "they  shall  see  the  Son 
of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with 
power  and  great  glory."     (Matt.  24:29,  30.) 

He  further  emphasised  the  long  delay  before 
his  return  for  which  his  followers  must  be 
prepared  by  the  parables  with  which  he  closed 
his  discourse.  He  said  that  "the  bridegroom 
tarried"  until  the  midnight,  until  all  who  were 
expecting  him  slumbered  and  slept;  he  taught 
that  he  was  like  a  man  "travelling  into  a  far 
country,  who  called  his  own  servants  and  deliv- 
ered unto  them  his  goods,"  and  "after  a  long 
time  the  lord  of  those  servants  cometh  and 
reckoneth  with  them."     (Matt.  25:14,  19.) 

In  recording  a  similar  finable,  Luke  states 
that  the  specific  purpose  of  our  Lord  was  to 
correct  a  false  impression  that  he  would  return 
shortly:     "Because,"    as    Luke    says,    "they 


100  The  Return  of  Christ 

thought  that  the  kingdom  of  God  should  imme- 
diately appear."     (Luke  19:11.) 

Quite  plainly,  therefore,  Christ  taught  that 
before  he  should  return,  "having  received  his 
kingdom,"  considerable  time  must  elapse  and 
certain  specified  events  must  occur. 

Yet  while  predicting  this  delay  and  describ- 
ing these  events,  he  at  the  same  time  insisted 
that  his  disciples  should  be  watching  for  his 
return.  Some  modern  students  of  prophecy 
experience  a  real  difficulty  in  reconciling  a  state 
of  watchfulness  with  the  knowledge  that  defi- 
nite things  are  predicted  to  occur  before  Christ 
appears.  Yet  was  not  this  the  exact  situation 
of  the  early  disciples?  They  were  watching 
for  their  Lord  to  return,  yet  they  knew  that 
first  a  great  crisis  must  arise  in  the  political 
world,  that  armies  must  be  gathered,  and 
Jerusalem  must  be  destroyed,  and  must  "be 
trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of 
the  Gentiles"  were  fulfilled.     (Luke  21  '.24.) 

They  knew  that  Peter  must  first  grow  to  be 
an  old  man,  and  must  suffer  the  death  of  a 
martyr,  before  his  Lord  would  come.  (John 
21:18-22.)     Yet  day  by  day,  and  year  after 


The  Present  Duty  101 

year,  while  walking  and  working*  with  Peter, 
his  fellow  disciples  were  watching  for  the  com- 
ing of  Christ. 

These  disciples  knew  that  before  their  Lord 
returned  the  Gospel  first  must  "be  preached  in 
all  the  world  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations" 
(Matt.  24:14),  and  yet,  though  until  after  the 
stoning  of  Stephen  no  one  had  attempted  to 
preach  the  Gospel  outside  the  city  of  Jerusalem, 
nevertheless,  meanwhile,  these  Christians  were 
watching  for  the  return  of  their  Lord. 

The  explanation  seems  to  be  that  all  these 
predicted  events  might  have  occurred  within 
the  life-time  of  these  apostles.  The  death  of 
Peter  was  not  very  long  delayed ;  within  a  gen- 
eration Jerusalem  was  destroyed ;  and  Paul  de- 
clared, with  pardonable  hyperbole,  that  during 
his  ministry  the  Gospel  "was  preached  to  every 
creature  which  is  under  heaven."     (Col.i  123.) 

Exactly  this  attitude  of  mind  should  be  ours. 
We  may,  we  must  be  watchful,  although  we 
know  of  events  which  will  occur  before  the 
Lord  returns.  The  supreme  precedent  condi- 
tion of  his  return  is  the  evangelization  of  the 
world.  Those  who  most  eagerly  look  for  the 
return  of  their  Lord  will  be  the  most  earnest  in 


102  The  Return  of  Christ 

pressing  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  task, 
believing  that  there  is  something  more  than 
youthful  fancy  in  the  familiar  watch-word  of  a 
great  missionary  movement:  "The  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world  in  this  generation." 

The  example  of  Paul  is  quite  as  instructive 
as  that  of  the  early  disciples.  He  never  stated 
that  he  would  live  until  the  return  of  his  Lord, 
but  he  frequently  suggested  that  he  might. 
When  he  uses  the  phrase  "we  that  are  alive, 
that  are  left  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord,"  he 
simply  identifies  himself  with  Christians  in 
general  and  proceeds  to  state  what  will  be  the 
experience  of  all  believers  who  are  living  when 
the  Lord  returns.  He  does  not  mean  to  affirm 
that  he  will  be  of  that  number.  If  so,  in  other 
epistles,  he  would  not  have  ranked  himself 
among  those  who  are  to  be  raised  from  the 
dead  (i  Cor.  6:14;  2  Cor.  4:14;  Philip.  3:11)  ; 
and  again  in  other  places  stated  that  he  was  un- 
certain whether  he  would  be  living  or  not  at  the 
time  when  Christ  should  come.  (2  Cor. 
5:6-10;  Philip.  1:21;  3:20,  21.)  Only  when, 
as  an  old  man,  in  his  final  imprisonment  at 
Rome,  he  was  assured  of  his  coming  martyr- 


The  Present  Duty  103 

dom  did  he  give  up  the  expectation  that  he 
might  live  until  his  Lord  appeared.  He  then 
stated  definitely  that  he  was  to  die ;  but  he  inti- 
mated that  Timothy,  to  whom  he  is  writing, 
should  preach  the  Gospel  and  should  expect 
that  in  his  life-time  the  Lord  possibly  might 
return.  Paul  did  not  expect,  as  he  wrote  from 
his  dungeon,  that  the  Lord  might  return  at 
"any  moment"  and  deliver  him  from  death,  but 
he  did  believe  that  the  coming  of  Christ  might 
take  place  in  that  very  generation. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  we  cannot  affirm 
that  the  coming  of  Christ  is  near,  nor  can  we 
affirm  that  it  is  not.  There  seems  to  be  no 
Scriptural  warrant  in  the  present  day  for  the 
statement  that  "Christ  will  soon  reappear."  It 
is  true  that  he  may,  but  it  is  also  true  that  his 
coming  may  be  long  delayed. 

Those  who  are  most  insistent  upon  the  immi- 
nence of  this  coming  see  signs  of  the  Apostasy 
in  the  present  state  of  the  Church,  and  believe 
that  present  movements  among  the  Jews  indi- 
cate that  the  return  of  our  Lord  is  near. 

It  is  true  that  an  apostasy  is  predicted  as  pre- 
ceding this  return,  but  surely  there  has  been 


104  The  Return  of  Christ 

greater  spiritual  declension  in  years  that  are 
past  than  exists  in  the  present;  for  instance, 
in  the  tenth  century,  or  in  other  dark  ages  of 
the  Church  and  of  the  world. 

Those  who  find  in  the  condition  of  Israel  a 
sign  of  the  near  approach  of  the  advent,  usu- 
ally base  their  beliefs  upon  the  parable  of  our 
Lord  concerning  "the  fig  tree."  They  argue 
that  the  fig  tree  (Matt.  24:32)  is  a  type  of 
Israel,  and  because  our  Lord  affirmed  that  the 
budding  of  this  tree  is  a  sign  of  summer,  there- 
fore, any  sign  of  new  life  among  the  Jewish 
people  is  an  indication  that  the  return  of  the 
Lord  is  near.  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that 
when  Luke  records  the  parable  he  says,  "Be- 
hold the  fig  tree,  and  all  the  trees,  when  they 
now  shoot  forth,  ye  see  and  know  of  your  own 
selves  that  summer  is  now  nigh  at  hand.  So 
likewise  ye,  when  ye  see  these  things  come  to 
pass,  know  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  nigh  at 
hand."  (Luke  21 129-31.)  Both  Matthew  and 
Luke  show  plainly  that  these  signs  of  the  return 
of  Christ  are  not  the  revival  of  Israel  and  of 
all  the  nations,  but  the  darkening  of  the  sun 
and  the  moon  and  the  "distress  of  nations  .  .  . 
when  men's  hearts  are  failing  them  for  fear 


The  Present  Duty  105 

and  the  powers  of  heaven  are  shaken  .  .  .  then 
shall  they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  a  cloud 
with  power  and  great  glory."     (Luke  21 125- 

27.) 

It  is,  therefore,  unsafe  to  make  predictions 
relative  to  the  time  of  our  Lord's  return.  "Of 
that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man."  It  is  un- 
fortunate that  some  persons  in  the  present  do 
not  feel  bound  by  this  limitation  of  knowledge. 
They  not  only  venture  to  say  that  the  time  is 
near,  but  they  confidently  state  the  year,  if  not 
the  hour  and  the  day,  when  Christ  will  come; 
while  others,  quite  as  confidently,  affirm  that 
the  date  is  distantly  remote.  Either  attitude  of 
mind  is  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  the  Master. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  in  his  long  dis- 
course relative  to  watchfulness,  Jesus  first  of 
all  rebukes  those  who  are  like  the  servant  who 
says  "my  lord  delayeth  his  coming,"  and  who 
shows  himself  indifferent  to  his  lord's  return 
and  is  unkindly  disposed  toward  his  fellow 
servants.  This  parable  seems  to  have  its  first 
application  to  teachers  and  leaders  in  the  mod- 
ern Church,  whose  teaching  and  conduct  imply 


106  The  Return  of  Christ 

that  the  Lord  cannot  return  until  after  the 
lapse  of  centuries. 

The  Master  adds  to  this  parable,  however, 
others  which  still  more  practically  describe  the 
results  of  proper  watchfulness.  These  are  fa- 
miliar parables;  they  concern  our  attitude  to- 
ward his  coming  and  were  spoken  in  this  imme- 
diate connection;  they  conclude  his  great  pro- 
phetic discourse. 

First  of  all  is  the  parable  of  the  Ten  Virgins 
(Matt.  25:1-13),  which  is  intended  to  teach 
the  spiritual  preparation  which  will  be  mani- 
fested by  those  who  are  watching  for  the  com- 
ing of  Christ.    Oil  is  the  uniform  symbol  of  the 
presence  and  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
that  which  distinguished  the   "wise  virgins" 
from  the  "foolish"  was  the  fact  that  the  former 
"took  oil  in  their  vessels  with  their  lamps"  and 
when  the  bridegroom  came  their  lamps  were 
trimmed  and  burning.     The  Master  intimates 
that  all  who  truly  are  looking  for  his  return 
will  likewise  be  ready.    Their  lives  will  be  like 
lights  shining  in  a  dark  place ;  they  will  be  pre- 
pared spiritually,  and  will  enter  into  the  joy  of 
their  Lord.    "Watch,  therefore,"  our  Lord  con- 


The  Present  Duty  107 

eludes,  "for  ye  know  neither  the  day  nor  the 
hour  when  the  Son  of  man  cometh." 

The  second  parable  is  that  of  the  servants  to 
whom  their  Master  entrusted  certain  talents 
expecting  them  to  use  these  gifts  for  the  advan- 
tage of  their  lord.  Jesus  thus  taught  the  obvi- 
ous lesson  that  in  his  absence  each  one  of  his 
followers  must  be  faithful  and  diligent  in  the 
use  of  every  opportunity,  every  gift,  every 
"talent,"  to  speed  the  Gospel  and  to  advance  his 
cause.  Working  and  watching  are  not  the 
same,  but  true  watchfulness  will  always  issue 
in  wise  and  devoted  Christian  service. 

Last  of  all  the  Master  paints  that  august 
scene  of  judgment  in  which,  under  the  figures 
of  the  "sheep"  and  the  "goats,"  all  nations  are 
being  divided.  The  ground  of  this  judgment  is 
the  attitude  which  has  been  taken  toward  his 
own  brethren.  To  those  who  had  given  food  to 
the  hungry  and  drink  to  the  thirsty,  who  had 
received  strangers,  who  had  clothed  the  naked, 
who  had  visited  the  sick  and  had  relieved  those 
in  prison,  he  spoke  those  memorable  words, 
"come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world."    There  are  many  solemn  truths 


108  The  Return  of  Christ 

portrayed  in  this  picture,  but  none  is  more  ob- 
vious than  this,  namely,  that  those  who  truly 
are  watching  for  the  return  of  their  Lord  will 
be  most  unceasing  in  their  work  of  loving  sym- 
pathy and  relief,  finding  in  this  sorrowing,  suf- 
fering world  continual  opportunities  for  mani- 
festing a  spirit  of  true  charity,  and  uncon- 
sciously ministering  to  their  Lord  in  the  per- 
sons of  those  who  are  most  in  need. 

Those  who  are  thus  watching  with  hopeful 
expectation,  with  fervent  spiritual  life,  with 
eager,  faithful  service,  with  tender  self-forget- 
ful sympathy,  are  able  to  pray  most  fervently 
and  most  sincerely,  "Even  so,  come,  Lord 
Jesus,  come  quickly." 

"Bring  near  Thy  great  salvation, 
Thou  Lamb  for  sinners  slain; 
Fill  up  the  roll  of  Thine  elect, 
Then  take  Thy  power,  and  reign: 
Appear,  Desire  of  nations, 
Thine  exiles  long  for  home ; 
Show  in  the  heaven  Thy  promised  sign; 
Thou  Prince  and  Saviour,  come." 


THE  END 


25 


IrJlA 


Date  Due 

G  1  y  '4  8  j  MrrtiQfljrriiimftl 


*i 


Ja  1 »  '45 


13J3 


Mr  a  i 
Ap  6 


Ii|tir|t|li!Mit 

- 


